From Tom M.:
I would guess the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) would consider an immediate cease and desist order on WMATA once they measured the particulate levels in the air at Farragut North in the morning these days and compared them to occupational and health standards.Other items:
The dust is thick from the construction work overhead.
Concrete is a horrible dust generator when you're working with it, particularly cutting it.
They've been working and cutting for months.
The dust is too thick, and it is generally dry and "uncontrolled." That means traffic from passengers, and more importantly, the wind generated by the moving trains keeps the particulates constantly in circulation where human lungs, bodies, clothes, etc. can serve as "filters" for WMATA.
I work in the hard rock mining industry. I know a good deal about health and safety standards. I've been in plenty of mine shafts and been adjacent to plenty of working faces. I don't have the instruments to measure this in DC, but at Farragut North, it is the Metro riders who are getting the shaft.
Why doesn't a crack cleaning crew address this mess AFTER overnight work and BEFORE daily operations begin?
Granted, passengers have far less "dwell" time in the station than a miner has in a shift below, but with the ongoing and glacial pace of the work, WMATA is neglecting to clean up the dust to cut the unnecessary dose of it we're getting in the morning on "doors opening."
Metro spending $51 million on consultants (Examiner)
Metro board member consults for consultants (Examiner)
