Workers at the massive U.S. Department of Interior headquarters in downtown Washington are exposed to potentially hazardous waste and life-threatening fire hazards, according to an internal audit.
The findings come as employee health complaints have skyrocketed in connection with the large-scale renovation of the 71-year-old building, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the D.C.-based organization that released the audit Wednesday.
Interior officials said they expected to find health and safety violations when they requested the audit. Most of the findings stemmed from the modernization work itself, such as the removal of asbestos and installation of new electrical systems.
“The buildings are completely safe for employees and visitors,” spokesman Frank Quimby said. Officials have already started addressing the findings.
But PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch said the findings confirm that the building is a danger to the 2,000 employees who work there.
“Interior headquarters is a toxic tinderbox just waiting for the right ignition,” Ruch said in a statement.
The audit, conducted last month by the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, found ungrounded electrical equipment in wet areas, improper disposal of toxic chemicals and inadequate protection of its drinking water from contamination.
Inspectors found hundreds of gallons of hazardous materials and hundreds of used florescent lamps, which can release poisonous chemicals in the air when broken.
The audit said there was no system to properly dispose of the hazardous waste — “the only options available to employees are to abandon these items in various mechanical spaces or discard them illegally.”
The result, Ruch said, is that workers are subjected to chemical vapors, welding fumes and debris dust.
Quimby said the buildings have been monitored for the air quality and only once, in the fall of 2002, has the air not met EPA standards. When that happened, Interior officials immediately closed the entire building until the problems were fixed.
