The Hill newspaper reports that due to pressure from the Congress and growing concerns about asbestos-related health issues, some Capitol tunnel workers have been reassigned to other duties.
Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash) recently contacted the Architect of the Capitol’s (AoC) office to request that he shield the 10 members of the Tunnel Rats, as they’ve become known, from further exposure to dangerous asbestos materials.
On Monday, April 9th, the AoC contacted Murray’s office saying that, effective the following morning, the workers would no longer be working in the tunnels, Murray spokesman Pete Weissman said.
Still, Murray was critical of the AoC and their overall handling of the asbestos situation in the 5 miles of tunnels that carry steam and chilled water throughout the Capitol complex.
“The Architect’s decision to take action is a welcome one, but does little to excuse the many years of negligence that have cost these workers their health,†Murray said in a press release yesterday. “For far too long these workers were exposed to deadly concentrations of asbestos while the Architect’s Office turned its back on their complaints.â€Â
Murray suggested that the AoC should “remove the tunnel workers until an abatement plan is outlined and medical clearance is received, provide workers with full medical evaluations to determine if they are medically able to wear respirators, ensure work for the crew in areas that will not affect their health, pay, vacation time or other benefits, and teach tunnel workers and contractors proper asbestos handling measures.â€Â
Eve Malecki, the spokesperson for the AoC, said that workers had been medically cleared for years to work in the tunnels. She added, however, that after receiving new medical information on the workers on Monday evening, which indicated that several of the tunnel workers were already affected by asbestos-related disorders, they decided to restrict their access to the tunnel.
John Thayer, head of the tunnel crew, said yesterday that he and his colleagues were locked out of their office, could not retrieve their personal items and were told that if they were seen near the tunnels the Capitol Police would be called because it would be regarded as a security breach.
Thayer was told that the crew would be reassigned to work in the Capitol Power Plant, which he said has asbestos issues of its own.
“They’re putting us back into a place with another asbestos problem,†but taking workers’ respirators away, Thayer said. “The plan is to divvy us up in other shops. The guys are going to lose $600 a month in hazardous-duty pay.â€Â
“We’re not ping-pong balls to play around with our health. We need to be talking about compensation,†Thayer said.
