Area residents expressed concern that the demolition would release lead dust into the atmosphere, although KeySpan officials said the process would be closely monitored and that before the demolition most of the paint on the 400-foot-high tanks had been taped over or scraped off. However, some residents and environmental activists felt that removing the remnants of the tanks would pose a danger at least as great as the implosion itself. "There's an enormous amount of steel that has to be cut up," the owner of a Flushing-based business, who filed an affidavit supporting a coalition of groups from Greenpoint and Williamsburg that sought unsuccessfully to block the tanks' demolition, noted. KeySpan uses mechanized scissor-like devices to cut up the steel skin of the tanks, rather than torches, to avoid vaporizing the lead paint. In addition, KeySpan also laid down a special fabric cover to shield nearby buildings and vacuumed streets after the implosion. More...