Looking back on Sept. 11, 2001: When the Clean Harbors family came together to get the job done

Clean Harbors is uniquely positioned to respond to any emergency response situation, large or small. This may never have been on display more than in the months following the Sept. 11 attacks in New York City, where teams of workers arrived early and stayed until the Ground Zero cleanup was completed.

Twenty-three years ago, Clean Harbors did not have the reach or resources it has today. But those who made their way to Ground Zero remember having no doubt that the company would rise to the occasion and answer the call.

"From the folks who worked in New York and New Jersey, to the strike team and everyone from corporate who came down, to everyone else pitching in, we all worked together and made sure to get the job done," said District Vice President Bobby Sherman. "That's who we are and what we do. It's true today, and it was true back then."

For Clean Harbors workers, like the rest of the country, the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 started like any other. Senior Account Manager Paul Feeney and others were at the Clean Harbors office in Brooklyn that morning, and he remembers first hearing the news that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers. He went to the roof of the building, expecting it to be a minor situation.

"We knew it was a much bigger deal as soon as we saw the flames coming out of the tower," Feeney said, adding that other team members were still on the roof when the second plane hit. "Our first thought was to see what the customer needed, so we hopped in our trucks and went over there."

They didn't get far, as traffic was already starting to come to a standstill. Feeney recalls the team ditching their vehicle and making their way on foot to the site.

"Some of us didn't know that the first tower had fallen, and we were trying to figure out where all the dust was coming from," he said. "By the time the second tower fell we all had to run, and we hid in an alley with a group of strangers. Eventually a police officer found us and got us to safety. The next morning people from corporate came down, and that's when it all started."

Getting to work

In the aftermath of the attacks, significant clouds of dust filled the air for hundreds of city blocks. These clouds brought with them ash, debris, and harmful particles such as asbestos. As one of the first companies to respond to the site, Clean Harbors got to work setting up decontamination stations for the essential workers who responded.

Several hundred internal workers were part of that initial response, with larger teams of subcontractors joining as the response grew. District Vice President James Cardone, who at the time was managing the Eddison, New Jersey (now South Plainfield) branch, remembers how hectic things were at first.

"On the one hand, you'd come in through the Lincoln Tunnel or the Midtown Tunnel in the morning, and there wasn't a single soul on the road. It was almost surreal." Cardone said. "But then you'd arrive to where you needed to be and were met by a large team of armed guards. There was a big, long process to convince them who you were and what you were doing there. Just to get a badge to be in the city was a very long process, and we were handed these photocopied printed badges to use. But soon everything became much more official."

A typical day involved reporting to a trailer and getting a work assignment, and then scattering teams throughout the area of Ground Zero.

"Every day it was a different mission, and we did whatever cleaning was needed," Cardone said. "That's when the scope of our expertise really came in handy."

Sherman was working with the field services team out of South Boston back in 2001, and didn't hesitate when he received the call to go to the site. He was on the command team when the decontamination stations were set up throughout Ground Zero.

"We first had to make sure all our guys were wearing the proper PPE and staying safe, just like we would for any other job. But this was far from an everyday spill response," Sherman said. "It was chaotic, but we knew the drill. For us it ran as smoothly as it could have. Once we would get our marching orders we would get to work, and things evolved more and more as time went on."

First responders on site would need their own PPE collected and decontaminated as they ended their shift. As more material was pulled from the rubble, trucks would come in and collect large quantities of debris to be moved offsite. These trucks also needed to be decontaminated to ensure they weren't tracking pollutants with them as they left, which led to truck washing stations being set up as well.

Much of the coordination of the work was run in part from two mobile command centers that were set up near Ground Zero. SVP of Refurbishment Operations Rick Smith, who was a fleet manager at the time, remembers the company purchasing the two Great Dane trailers earlier in the year with the goal of utilizing the vehicles for a variety of responses.

"We took delivery of the trucks in the summer, and began upfitting them to meet our needs," Smith said. "On the morning of Sept. 11, we had techs on site in Weymouth (Massachusetts) putting the finishing touches on them. It was a bright and sunny day, and we had no idea what was about to happen."

Smith and his team were glued to the news like everyone else immediately after the attacks. While they hadn't fully grasped what was unfolding, they knew they needed to get the trailers ready as soon as possible, and worked through the night.

"Sure enough we got the call and on Sept. 12 the trucks left Weymouth and headed to Ground Zero," Smith said. "I'd like to think things happen for a reason. The trucks spent the entire time there on site."

Smith still has the asset numbers of both trailers committed to memory: Unit 6201 and Unit 6202. Both are still in use to this day, one being stationed in Carson, California and the other in Phoenix, Arizona.

"We had no idea at the time what the trucks would be used for, but even back then there was a push to ensure the company was ready for whatever situation came up," Smith said. "We're the only company that can respond to a disaster in the way we do, and that became clear."

Doing the job right

For those who responded to Ground Zero, the toll the work took cannot be overstated. SVP of Industrial Services Scott Metzger said this went beyond the work itself.

"Being around the World Trade Center site in the early days was difficult, but much more mentally than physically," Metzger said. "The calls for 'all quiet' during the night when they would shut down all equipment to listen for any potential survivors, was by far the most memorable for me."

The response efforts extended beyond decontamination duties. Senior Talent Consultant Vincent Doucette was working as a recruiter for the company at the time, and while he never visited Ground Zero directly, he interviewed many people who did.

Thanks to a Brownfields grant from the EPA, Clean Harbors was able to hire temporary workers to assist in the response effort. Doucette met with many of these workers during the hiring process.

"We had decontamination stations and truck wash stations, but also comfort stations for people who needed them," Doucette said. "As you can imagine, it all took a mental and psychological toll on everyone in addition to the great physical work involved. It was important that we got the right people to do the work safely.

Doucette said it was just as important to identify the people who weren't up to the task, as it was to find the people who were. Being a 24/7 operation, there was no shortage of help that was needed, and in addition to finding people who were capable of the work they also performed background checks and asked people why they wanted to aid in the response.

"We interviewed hundreds of people, and our team would go out to dinner at night and talk about everything that was going on," he said. "A lot of the people we met and interviewed were clearly upset, and many of them had family and loved ones who had died in the attacks. They would break down crying in the interview. We knew if they couldn't make it through talking about what had happened, it wouldn't be safe to have them working on site. We turned a lot of people away."

Doucette underscored the importance of the work the company was doing, and the need to prioritize safety.

"Our number one responsibility no matter what we do, is making sure the work gets done safely," he said. "Back then we were a much, much smaller company compared to what we are today, but our standards of excellence have always been the same."

The Clean Harbors family

There was a sense of national pride in the strength shown in the weeks and months that followed the attacks. Sherman can recall when President George W. Bush made one of his visits to Ground Zero to meet with and thank first responders. The visit, he said, was not only memorable but also highlighted the importance of the work the teams were doing and the appreciation shown by many.

But on a smaller scale, the internal pride that was shown among Clean Harbors employees was clear from the beginning.

"From the start there was what seemed like a never-ending supply of cookies and treats and care packages from the corporate office," Feeney said. "Everyone was thanking us for the work we were doing. We really were all in it together."

Cardone has always seen the selflessness and dedication shared by employees across the company, but knew the Sept. 11 response was on a whole different level.

"The work we did became a way of life for so many people for more than half a year," he said. "This was true for the work we did, but also the support we received throughout all of it. It was something none of us will ever forget."

Cardone said he even remembers when company founder Alan McKim visited the site.

"I remember that it was raining that day, and Alan got dressed in the proper gear and decided to walk to Ground Zero instead of taking the golf cart," he said. "He stopped and visited all the decontamination stations along the way. He wanted to personally thank all the workers for everything they were doing, and shake their hands. That told us everything we need to know about what the response meant to the company."

Since the Sept. 11 response, Clean Harbors' reputation as the go-to provider for emergency response in North America has only grown. These events include the anthrax attacks, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Deepwater Horizon spill, the Kalamazoo River spill, the 2015 avian flu outbreak and more recently the COVID-19 decontamination efforts. But something special will always remain about the company's crucial role at Ground Zero in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy.

A day of service

This year, Sept. 11 is being honored as National Day of Service and Remembrance, a day to use the tragedy of 9-11 as a way to honor the lives lost by helping those in need and fostering charity and community giving. The Clean Harbors Veterans Employee Resource Group delivered employee donations to the Cape & Islands Veterans Outreach Center in Hyannis, Massachusetts.

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