Capitol Tunnel Workers Speak Out on Asbestos

June 8, 2006 - At a recent event sponsored by Public Citizen, a liberal watchdog group opposed to the passing of the Fairness in Asbestos Resolution (FAIR) Act, six U.S. Capitol Power Plant tunnel workers told the crowd about their experiences with asbestos beneath the nation’s most important building, where lawmakers pass bills to protect citizens from such hazards.

Counsel for the watchdog group noted that tunnel workers who may get sick might not even be eligible for compensation under the new bill, which creates a privately funded trust fund for the compensation of those sickened by asbestos.  Officials for the Architect of the Capitol’s (AoC) office, who oversee the tunnel operations, have testified to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch that since few tests were done until recently, the agency could not confirm that workers were exposed to high rates of asbestos, possibly making them ineligible for compensation.

Workers, however, have stated that the asbestos in the Capitol utility tunnels is so thick that they can pick it up and put it in their pockets.  The utility tunnels house pipes that carry steam and chilled water from the Capitol Power Plant to the Capitol campus.

In a recent article in The Hill, reporter Jackie Kucinich reports that “8 of 10 tests conducted by AMA Analytical Services, an environmental laboratory based in Lanham, Md., for the AoC found asbestos levels above the personal-exposure limit set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).”

“The samples we were getting … were 30 times over the legal limit,” tunnel supervisor John Thayer told the crowd. “I’ve been there for 22 years. I’ve never wore a respirator until March 16, 2006. I have had problems with my lungs.”

As a matter of fact, Thayer already has asbestosis and doctors have told him that his 33 year old lungs are akin to those of someone who would be 118 years old.  Four additional tunnel crew members are undergoing treatment for respiratory diseases as well. 

“AoC seems to think that it is OK to be exposed to asbestos for a limited time; for years we did not wear anything,” said crew member Christian Raley.  “I have to wait 35 years to figure out what’s going to happen to me.”