Police officers: City leaders put our health at risk

By Georg P. Hassett and John M. O’ Hara

      Fifteen city police officers filed a lawsuit against several former and current Somerville leaders July 27 as a result of the conditions at the Somerville police station at 220 Washington Street.
      Defendants named in the suit include Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, former Mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay, Police Chief Robert R. Bradley, former Police Chief George McLean, former Police Chief Donald Caliguri and Governor Mitt Romney.
      Court documents filed by the plaintiffs allege they “were subjected to pro-longed exposures to chronic damp conditions, and the types of molds that produce toxins as well as other hazardous substances present in their workplace environment at 220 Washington Street, Somerville, MA and have suffered adverse health affects as a result thereof.”
      The court record went on to state that “despite possessing knowledge that several toxic molds existed within 220 Washington Street, no successful remediation took place and the Plaintiffs continued to be exposed to the toxins documented in the building’s environment.”
      The building at 220 Washington Street was originally used as an MBTA “car barn” for the maintenance and disposal of MBTA vehicles.
      In the lawsuit, it is stated that “in order to junk old batteries, the MBTA would split the batteries in order to drain them because the battery could not be disposed of until the fluid, sulfuric acid was drained.”
      As a result, the plaintiffs’ complaint stated that “sulfuric acid, sulfuric-acid laced salt, sulfur trioxide, waste oil and diesel fuel are all substances suspected to be present in and around the building.”
     Thomas A. Leyne, a Somerville patrolman for twenty nine years, has worked in the building since 1986.
     In the lawsuit he said, “Beginning in the early 1990s I began suffering adverse health affects including: bronchitis, pneumonia, shortness of breath, constant congestion, increased sinus pressure, hay fever, asthma, and general difficult breathing. I have since been diagnosed with emphysema. Prior to working within 220 Washington Street, I did not experience any of the symptoms I now suffer from. I believe my adverse health affects are directly caused by the environment within 220 Washington Street.”
    Curtatone said he did not believe any city employee housed at the police station was in danger.
    “There is no reason to evacuate that building. I am concerned with the health of all the city’s residents and that is why every health code is followed in that building. No one there is at risk,” he said.