Occupational Diseases: AoC Pulls Workers From Tunnels Over Asbestos Worries

The Architect of the Capitol, AoC, has announced that they will reassign some Capitol Power Plant tunnel workers to other duties after they possibly were exposed to asbestos. Senator Patty Murray, D-Washington, recently requested that the members of the 10-man tunnel crew be removed from the tunnel before they were exposed to more asbestos. The men were showing symptoms of asbestos exposure, including signs of pulmonary and respiratory disease.

Amid Asbestos Concerns, AoC Pulls Workers From Tunnels

Murray approves of the decision to change the workers' duties, but is still unhappy that the AoC did not take action much sooner. “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.” Dianne Feinstein, the Senate Rules and Administration Committee Chairwoman, also criticized the AoC: “There is increasing evidence that those employees who have been working in the tunnels may be suffering from asbestosis and other diseases. Worker health and safety must be of the utmost concern to the Architect’s Office. Further delays cannot be tolerated.”