Object to NYPD Requirement On Air Sampling

By ARI PAUL

A coalition of labor organizations and community groups has come out against a City Council bill that would limit environmental testing to those with Police Department permits.

New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health Executive Director Joel Shufro and Chairman Bill Henning expressed their opposition in a letter to City Council members.

Too Much NYPD Power?

"Intro 650 will require police permits for the possession or use of environmental sampling instruments," they wrote last week. "It will give NYPD unrestricted authority to deny or delay environmental testing by any individual or group. It will criminalize environmental sampling activities that are now widely and routinely conducted without permits. The stated purpose of the bill is to reduce 'excessive false alarms and unwarranted anxiety.' However, there is no evidence that false alarms and unwarranted anxiety are real-world problems."

The NYCOSH leaders insisted that the bill would hurt unions whose members may be suffering from 9/11-related illnesses as well as a academic research. Joining NYCOSH in opposition are the United Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO New York Central Labor Council. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has also expressed skepticism about the bill's benefits.