Mesothelioma Medical

Ten Congressional tunnel workers were reassigned yesterday because of concerns for their health after Michael Harbut, an occupational and environmental health doctor from Michigan, provided their employer - the Architect of the Capitol - with information about the hazards of long-term access to deadly levels of asbestos. The workers, known as "tunnel rats," have been working for decades in asbestos-laden utility tunnels under the Capitol complex.

The working conditions were troubling these workers for years. They had complained regarding this, citing reports by government investigators that their workplace. They had to often work at 160 degrees in a place which was strewn with fallen asbestos debris.

Nine of the 10 claim medical check-up has made it clear that their lungs show evidence of asbestos exposure. Though they have been reassigned now, the workers are not so happy about this. The workers fear they will be assigned the lowliest work as punishment for speaking out. They have heard that their transfer is to a power plant where asbestos removal is going on for the last seven months.

John Thayer, the employee who told a Senate committee last month regarding the harassment and retaliation he and the nine tunnel rats he supervises have experienced from the supervisors, is especially not happy about the replacement. "I'm going from one contaminated spot to another," he said.

After learning of their plight during a congressional hearing in mid-March, Sen. Patty Murray had pushed for the move. In February, the Congressional Office filed a complaint, alleging that the architect's office had ignored many safety and health violations. Murray pointed this in a statement 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," Murray said.

Thayer said that though Murray means well, they were disappointed about the result.

"This was not the result we expected," Thayer said, "All we wanted was to get out of the tunnel, and be compensated for what they did to us. I'm damaged goods. Who is winning? Not us."

After check-up, a government doctor commented that Thayer's lungs looked like they belonged to someone 118 years old. This was when Thayer was 33 years old. According to medical reports, he has scarring on both lungs.