�WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th June, 2021) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is actively engaged with officials on the ground in Surfside, Florida, to mitigate the potentially harmful exposure to debris from the recently collapsed building, EPA Administrator Michael Regan told reporters on Wednesday.
"We're actively engaged with all of the elected officials on the ground. Our regional offices are deploying air monitoring systems to be sure that we keep the public safe, [that] people that are searching the rubble are getting the protection that they need," Regan said during a press briefing.
When asked about a possible role played by climate change in the collapse of the 13-story building, Regan said the EPA did not have enough data to make such an assumption.
The Champlain Towers South condominium building partially collapsed in the early hours of Thursday. The authorities have said they do not know how many occupants were in the building at the time of the incident.
Earlier on Wednesday, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said that the death toll of the building collapse in Surfside has increased to 16 while 147 residents remain unaccounted for.
