The Interior Department has until Wednesday to prove that it has removed hazardous waste and fire dangers from its Washington headquarters or federal safety officials will send in their own investigators.
The massive downtown 71-year-old complex is in the midst of a 10-year modernization project to makethe building safer, but an internal audit leaked two weeks ago showed that the renovation has exposed many of its 2,000 employees to unsafe conditions.
Inspectors found ungrounded electrical equipment in wet areas, 25 gallons of gasoline stored with flammable paints, and hundreds of used florescent lamps, which can release poisonous mercury in the air when broken.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials said Interior Department must show that the alleged hazards no longer exist and explain what corrective actions the agency took to fix the problems.
Doug Bourgeois, director of the National Business Center within the Department of Interior, said the agency has resolved most of the problems and it expects to send its response to Occupational Safety and Health Administration by today.
“The Interior Department takes these matters seriously,” Bourgeois said. “We’re doing our best to make sure the health and safety of our employees and our visitors is maintained at an appropriate level.”
Bourgeois said most of the violations have been corrected, but the removal of florescent lamps requires licensed contractors to dispose of the waste. The lamps have been put into safe containers in the meantime.
