Patrolmen’s Union President Jack Leutcher said officers and
other employees in the building are nervous and frustrated at the
uncertainty of what they may be breathing in when they go to work.

by George P. Hassett

Cancer-causing chemicals have been found in the city’s public safety
building, according to tests conducted by a company specializing in
toxicology and risk assessment. The company, SafDoc Systems of
Stoughton, was hired by lawyers representing 60 city employees who
brought suit against Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and the city in August
2005 in an attempt to get to the bottom of health problems plaguing
workers inside the building at 220 Washington St.

Kenneth Weinberg, Ph.D., a biochemist and pathologist who is the
chief consultant for SafDoc, said the chemicals found in the building
have the potential for causing various types of serious diseases.

“This facility, at the least, needs to be vacated and thoroughly cleaned and decontaminated,” he said.

Tests conducted Nov. 8 found “widespread contamination” of toxic
materials such as Benzene, which is known to cause leukemia. Also found
were metals such as beryllium, copper and thallium which can cause skin
or nasal ulcers and liver and kidney damage.

The same tests also found contaminated air inside the building due
to diesel fuels used in the fire engines. Hoses attached to the exhaust
pipes of the fire engines did not appear to be effective because of
inconsistent use, according to the report, and a fine black dust could
be found throughout the building. On the day of the testing, fire
trucks were not being used which could have skewed the findings for
contamination to be lower than they truly are, said Stephen D’Angelo,
attorney for the plaintiffs.

The lawsuit that inspired the testing claims 16 city employees have
died in the past 10 years because they “were subjected to prolonged
exposures, to chronic damp conditions, and the types of molds that
produce toxins as well as other hazardous substances present in their
workplace environment.” The lawsuit alleges the site was once used as
an MBTA bus garage, where car batteries were routinely split open and
emptied into the ground.

D’Angelo said he knows of 78 city employees who once worked at 220 Washington St. and now suffer from various lung illnesses.

“The city’s plan seems to be to ignore the problem but we’re not
going away,” he said. “That building is atrocious and must be shut
down.”

However, city officials dispute the plaintiffs’ claims and point to
the recent tests as flawed. Curtatone said the SafDoc tests did not
determine the levels of chemicals found at 220 Washington St., only
their presence.

“Their own study points out that it is not conclusive,” Curtatone said.

The only study conducted by an independent third party on the
building concluded that it was not a hazardous work

environment, he
said. The Massachusetts Division of Occupational Safety concluded in
1998 that the building was a safe work environment, he said.

However, Patrolmen’s Union President Jack Leutcher said officers and
other employees in the building are nervous and frustrated at the
uncertainty of what they may be breathing in when they go to work.

“Nobody is comfortable with this building right now. I know of two
guys who spent a couple hundred bucks each on air purifying systems
because they’re afraid of what may be in this building and think there
may be something here making us sick,” Leutcher said.

Curtatone said the plaintiffs in the lawsuit are using scare tactics to create hysteria around the issue.

“When there is one credible source that comes forward with real
evidence, we will take whatever steps necessary. But with the
information we have now, there is no reason to believe it is not safe
to be in that building,” he said.

When District Fire Chief Bill Hurley learned that 220 Washington St.
was contaminated with Benzene, he already knew what the toxin was
capable of. Hurley was diagnosed with leukemia in 2003. When he looked
around at his peers, both civilians and firefighters, he saw an
alar-ming contrast.

“My civilian friends didn’t have cancer but a strange number of my
firefighter friends did,” Hurley said. “There was Kevin Hough, Paul
McKenna and John Mitchell. I’m not a doctor, I’m just a firefighter,
but it seemed unbelievable that we would all have cancer.”

Hough died last month. Hurley, McKenna and Mitchell continue to
undergo treatment. Hurley said what ties the four friends and
firefighters together is their work at Engine 3, a fire house on the
same site as 220 Washington St.

“You don’t see these rates of cancer at any other fire house, just Engine 3,” Hurley said.

Hurley said he became involved in the lawsuit after Hough’s death.
He said his goal for the lawsuit is to get the public safety building
shut down and that a financial settlement is not what he is after.

“I’m not going to forget I have cancer. Cancer is a head thing, you
always know you have it, but if we can close the building, get more tes
ting and prevent another loss like the one we suffered with Kevin
Hough, then a little bit of good would have come out of this
situation,” he said.

Curtatone would not say if the city planned to do any more tests on
the building. He said there are plans to move police and firefighters
out of 220 Washington St., not because it is dangerous but rather
because the building is not equipped to handle modern public safety needs.