Drinking water was shut off last night on 16 floors of state offices high in one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center after unacceptable levels of lead were found in samples.
The tests found unacceptable lead traces in three of six fountains tested, and authorities turned off the pipes supplying the 16-floor section of the No. 2 World Trade Center.
As the results became known, officials of the state Health Department and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the owner of the towers, said they were working out plans for random sampling elsewhere in the center and possible blood tests of workers. The officials said they had no idea how the lead could have entered the water supply.