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On 6/14/2006 - six months before Captain Peter Bosco arrived at Engine 10 - Don Adler of John Galt Corp., the demolition sub-contractor for the toxic Deutsche Bank Building, proclaimed that the Deutsche Bank Building was not subject to any regulations. (See, 6/14/2006 Report of Bob FitzPatrick, Environmental Scientist, New York City Response and Recovery Operation by clicking here).

Perhaps he was aware of FDNY's impotence over WTC Contaminated Buildings in general and the Deutsche Bank building in particular. (Click here for Jonathan Lemire's New York Daily News Article of 10/28/2007) 

There are certain types of buildings within the City of New York that are exempt from FDNY jurisdiction.  One type of building is buildings owned by the State of New York or its Agencies. (Click Here).  In FDNY's manual, there is section 4.7 entitled, Government Agency Guidelines.  (Click Here).  In the FDNY manual, it explicitly says that "The Fire Department has no official jurisdiction in New York State owned ... facilities."  It further instructs FDNY firefighters that  "V.O.s [violation orders], N.O.V.s [Notices of Violations] and Summons shall not be served to employees of a State Agency." Any inspections of State facilities are "courtesy inspections". They are not mandatory. State facilities are responsible for inspecting themselves.  For "courtesy inspections" to happen FDNY has to be invited into a building to inspect.  And after having been invited in, FDNY can only make recommendations. (Click Here).

The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation is a State Agency (click here).The toxic Deutsche Bank Building at 130 Liberty Street went from private ownership to ownership by a NY State Agency on August 31, 2004 (click here). 

The emergence of section 4.7 of the FDNY manual (Click Here) exposes a disturbing gap in the regulatory framework in place at ground zero governing the construction and deconstruction of WTC contaminated buildings. By its own rules, FDNY had no jurisdiction to enforce the building codes and fire codes at ground zero.  With regard to ground zero, the FDNY has no teeth.

This is not the only document that talks about jurisdiction over 130 Liberty Street (click here).  On May 17, 2007, a meeting took place. Participating in the meeting were FDNY, NYC DOB, Bovis, LMCC and others.  FDNY Commissioner Scoppetta himself received an email of the minutes of the meeting.  The FDNY announced that it would "proceed in reliance of the decisions and statements set forth below."  The meeting confirmed that "The demolition of 140 [sic] Liberty Street would be under the jurisdiction of DOB's B.E.S.T. squad.". 

It is not surprising that FDNY did not have jurisdiction over the toxic Deutsche Bank Building.  FDNY was never considered a "Regulator" of the construction - deconstruction project (click here).  FDNY was a first responder. FDNY never ascended to the level of a regulator. FDNY was never on anyone's list as a regulator.  There were two (2) Federal Agencies who were regulators.  There were three (3) State agencies who were regulators.  There were four (4) City agencies who were regulators.  FDNY was never - I repeat never - a regulator of the construction - deconstruction project.