The Washington Post reports today on a former exhibit specialist who work at the National Air and Space Museum during his 28 year career with the Smithsonian Institute and who developed asbestosis as a result. Richard Pullman, 54, has settled a lawsuit with the institution for $233,000, according to records obtained by The Post this month from the Department of Labor under the Freedom of Information Act.
Pullman said he frequently sawed and drilled into interior walls to install and update exhibits for more than 25 years. In 2008, he and other workers were told for the first time that the walls contained asbestos, Pullman said. Asbestosis, a lung disease linked to breathing asbestos fibers, was diagnosed in Pullman by his physicians.
This story broke in March, causing Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough to order an investigation of the facility’s potential asbestos exposure by an outside consultant. The Institute chose to make the report public because the Post had obtained a record of the lawsuit settlement during their document search.
The report’s findings include the observation that the Smithsonian failed to keep a complete record on asbestos-containing material. Workers often did not have adequate information on the location of asbestos or how to work around it, according to the report. Workplace exposure has subsequently become an important issue at the museum, in large part due to the news stories.
Pullman asserted that he was often assigned the task of drilling through walls to mount exhibits when those walls contained asbestos or asbestos joint compound. Joint compound used for finishing out wallboard was a widely used asbestos product through the 1970s. In 1992 another consultant retained by the museum reported that there was 1 to 5 percent asbestos in the joint compound used in two dozen Air and Space museum rooms. A level above 1 percent is supposed to trigger worker-safety requirements; the Smithsonian has acknowledged that worker warnings rarely occurred.
The documents obtained by the Post show a pattern of non-concern on the part of Smithsonian’s management. The 2007 plans to replace the electrical system misled contractors about the amount of asbestos found in the walls. The museum maintained asbestos levels were less than one percent, at that time. Pullman collected dust samples from the museum that showed high levels of asbestos content.
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