Staffers: Renovation Made Them Sick.

From Washington Post:

From the sidewalk, nothing looks awry at 1849 C St. NW, the Interior Department's headquarters on the Mall.

But behind the 70-year-old walls, the officials charged with taking care of the great outdoors are finding problems with their own indoors. Many say they have been sickened by dust, soot and possibly noxious fumes from a massive building rehabilitation.

Since 2002, when the work began, some staffers have suffered from headaches, nausea, rashes and respiratory difficulties attributed to the construction work, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a nonprofit watchdog group that has been collecting complaints.

The 12-year, $220 million renovation of the first government building designed and built by Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration is being undertaken in phases, with doors and vents sealed to ensure that employees with offices adjacent to the work do not need to be relocated.

But preventing the particles of debris from percolating into the working environment has proved difficult.

Interior and General Services Administration officials overseeing the project said they have an occupational health nurse on call for medically "hypersensitive" workers, regularly publish air quality reports and, as of this week, have installed a fan system to blow out bad air.

"Employees strongly suspect that the fumes and smoke and dust are the reason behind the [health] problems," said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which he said is in touch with dozens of complainants. He added that some staff members contacting his organization have taken disability leave or are considering resigning "because they feel ill every time they walk into the building."

Internal reports, which PEER has posted on its Web site, confirm that the Interior Department has investigated complaints from staff members about the reconstruction's health impact. The latest investigation, by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, found that the renovation had exposed areas adjacent to construction work to pollutants, though inspectors recognized improvements since their evaluation last summer and concluded that there was no "immediate" health risk.

The report's main criticism concerned the failure to blow air out of the construction area and keep debris away from offices. After a year of trying to do that, officials said this week that a $70,000 investment in new fans by contractors has finally begun to work.