Federal Election Commission Employees Are Worried They May Have Been Exposed to Asbestos

“Employees and retirees are understandably anxious.”

Sipa USA via AP

This story was originally published by the Center for Public Integrity and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Several Federal Election Commission employees are concerned they may have been unwittingly exposed to asbestos—a known carcinogen and lung irritant—while working at the agency’s downtown Washington, DC, headquarters during the mid-1990s.

A recent asbestos remediation notice taped to the entrance of the FEC’s former headquarters, which the agency vacated in March and is now under renovation, prompted alarmed employees to contact the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents some FEC workers.

Dave Levinthal/Center for Public Integrity

Union officials said several employees recalled extensive interior work at the old FEC headquarters during the 1990s, and they’re worried asbestos could have then been released into the air.

“FEC employees and retirees are understandably anxious and deserve a complete accounting of any asbestos-related work that was done during the time the agency was leasing the facility,” National Treasury Employees Union President Tony Reardon told the Center for Public Integrity. “Workplace safety is of utmost importance to NTEU and the employees we represent, and we intend to help them get answers to their questions and concerns.”

FEC officials said last week they were unaware of asbestos-related concerns related to the agency’s former headquarters at 999 E. St. NW, a nine-story structure built in 1931 that sits across the street from the FBI’s headquarters.

“The commission is committed to safeguarding the health of FEC staff and has asked management to put union representatives in touch with the General Services Administration, which serves as the FEC’s property manager,” FEC spokeswoman Judith Ingram said.

It’s not uncommon for buildings of that era to contain asbestos, which was, at the time, a common construction and insulation material. The substance typically isn’t harmful unless disturbed and made airborne, according to the National Cancer Institute and Environmental Protection Agency.

And at present, there’s no evidence that any FEC employee or retiree was indeed exposed to asbestos during the 1990s.

An internal memo circulated last week among NTEU members acknowledges as much—while also noting that union members “must recognize the possibility that FEC staff may have been exposed to asbestos for unknown periods of time.”

Three top FEC officials who worked at the agency during the 1990s had varying recollections of work being done inside the FEC’s headquarters at that time.

Trevor Potter, a Republican FEC commissioner who served from 1991 to 1995, said he vaguely recalled remodeling at the agency’s former headquarters but “certainly never heard the word ‘asbestos’ mentioned in connection with remodeling.

“I obviously hope that whatever asbestos was present in the building was deeper than the remodeling and not disturbed,” Potter said.

Scott Thomas, a Democratic commissioner who served from 1986 to 2006, said he has no recollection of any asbestos concern at the FEC’s former headquarters during the 1990s or after.

Larry Noble, who served as FEC general counsel from 1987 to 2000, said he had a “very vague memory of some issue with asbestos” but didn’t recall any details.

The FEC is an independent federal agency charged with administering and enforcing the nation’s federal campaign finance laws and employs about 350 people.

In March, the agency moved from 999 E St. NW, where it had resided since 1985, to the upper floors of a modern office building north of Union Station in Washington, DC’s NoMa neighborhood.

More Mother Jones reporting on Climate Desk

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate