Emails and other internal documents indicated the scope and severity of the illnesses.The office nurse, who was not named in the documents, had one of the most extreme reactions.
"Upon the installation of the art sculpture, the nurse developed rhinitis, difficulty swallowing, sinus pressure, sneezing, has difficulty breathing and began to itch all over," read a June 2015 letter from Marisol Rente, the supervisor of facilities for the FBI’s Miami Division to two GSA officials.
The same letter indicated the nurse did at least three rounds of steroids to "reset her immune system," and that she was the area’s lone nurse.
"We have only one nurse at this time who is responsible for approximately 1,000 employees," the letter read. "She is not able to perform her job duties being at an off-site when her health unit is in the federal building."
According to the letter, another employee’s "face became very swollen along with their lymph nodes and they developed a fever ... the employee states when they are away from the building for an extended time there is resolution of symptoms."
A test conducted by OSHA in February found traces of "numerous substances" like formaldehyde, but the samples did not exceed OSHA air quality standards.
| Yup, formaldehyde will do all those things, particularly with a "tight" air conditioning system... |
GSA also noted tests from the Federal Occupational Health agency.
"FOH measured no cedar dust in the facility and found insufficient evidence to implicate the artwork as the source of health conditions reported by FBI employees," said Muwwakkil, the GSA spokeswoman.
After the decision was made to remove the statue, it went on a more than 1,000-mile journey from Miami to Alexandria, Virginia, where GSA has an off-site fine arts facility. It is currently awaiting its next stop at a storage facility in Maryland.
| Some poor GS-5 at the storage facility is about to become sick... |
