The Trump administration will not release information on whether it removed or released the carcinogenic compound asbestos during its sudden demolition of the White House’s East Wing as part of President Trump’s planned ballroom project, a lawsuit claims.
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization filed the suit Wednesday in Washington, D.C., federal court, alleging agencies like the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, OSHA, EPA and the White House have failed to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request about what kind of precautions were taken ahead of the three-day demolition project.
The East Wing, which was built in 1902 and renovated in 1942, “likely contained asbestos and other hazardous materials,” given that such materials were used “extensively” at the time, according to the suit.
“When an Administration bypasses required safety procedures or withholds documentation of the measures it took to prevent harm, it erodes public trust and weakens protections required by law to safeguard the American people and public resources,” the suit reads.
“We want to know if they did it,” Linda Reinstein, founder of Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, told The Washington Post. “Why can’t they just tell us — what’s the big secret here?”
Asbestos abatement at the White House has occurred on previous projects, according to the Post, though the paper found no notification of such work with D.C. authorities for the ballroom project.
The agencies have been ignoring the organization’s requests for information since October, the lawsuit claims.
The Independent has contacted the named parties for comment.
The EPA directed questions to the White House.
"Any hazardous material abatement was done in September,” a White House official told The Independent. “A very extensive abatement and remediation assessment was followed, complying with all applicable federal standards."
The administration will present its plans publicly for the first time on Thursday, at a meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission.
The president has said construction could conclude as soon as March if all goes to plan.
The $400 million ballroom project, which is funded in part by tech industry donors to the Trump campaign and inauguration, has been controversial since its inception.
In December, the National Trust for Historic Preservation sued over the project, alleging it began before the administration went through the required legal review process.
Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, have questioned whether the private funding of the project amounts to “special-interest access to the Trump Administration and influence peddling by giant corporations.”
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