Should Have Known Better?
The Smithsonian Institution, one of the most important museums in the world, is at the center of a mess concerning asbestos exposure and mesothelioma lung cancer.
Richard Pullman worked for 25 years as an exhibit specialist at the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum. During that time he often drilled into interior walls to install exhibits, not knowing the walls housed an asbestos containing joint compound. The Smithsonian had known of the asbestos since 1992, but Pullman did not learn of it until 2008, the same year that he was diagnosed with asbestosis. He was 54 years old.
Pullman first filed a series of safety complaints, after which he was disciplined. He then filed a complaint under the Whistle Blowers Act and an asbestos lawsuit. His complaints led to an internal review, to a Congressional hearing, and perhaps even more significant, to the Steamfitters Union bringing forward charges that asbestos was mishandled in 2007 during the renovation of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
Pullman’s complaint and outside consultants have alleged that the Smithsonian failed to follow federal guidelines and “Best Management Practices.” Specifically, the Smithsonian is accused of failing to use the most reliable methods of asbestos testing, and failing to re-inspect buildings every three years.
What Does Asbestos Look Like?
Most important, though, is the charge that the Smithsonian failed to keep a complete record of asbestos containing material. Workers had inadequate information on the locations of asbestos and how to get around it. 
asbestos fibers
A 1992 report on the Air and Space building found 1-5 percent asbestos in joint compound used in the walls. Any material above 1% triggers worker-safety requirements, but Smithsonian acknowledged that warnings were rarely made. Instead, construction and plan specifications over the years often failed to warn contractors of the more than 1% asbestos containing wallboard compound, and in a project in 2007 incorrectly informed that the compound constituted “less than one percent.”
A similar failure occurred in 2007 during the National Museum of American History’s $85 million renovation. The Steamfitters Union members contracted to work at that site expected to encounter 50 asbestos locations, but stumbled upon 250. The result was asbestos dust filling the air while air circulation machinery continued to run, carrying asbestos dust through the museum. Symptoms of mesothelioma, the signature disease of asbestos exposure, have yet to be reported, though the disease will most often take many years to manifest itself.
The Smithsonian defended itself against Pullman’s complaint saying there was no proof that asbestos had been released in the Air and Space building. Smithsonian’s testing showed no asbestos while some of the dust samples Pullman had secretly collected showed high levels of asbestos. Last month, the Air and Space Museum initiated an asbestos clean-up. Pullman has recently settled with the Smithsonian for a reported $233,000. As part of the deal, the two parties have agreed to not further disparage one another.
Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough explained last month in a congressional hearing that the failure to provide asbestos employment training was an oversight that has since been corrected. This was the secretary’s first public comment on the issue. Clough explained that since 1990 the Smithsonian has spent $15.5 million on lead and asbestos abatement throughout the complex.
The Smithsonian Institution operates from a trust enacted by Congress. It is funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its shops and its magazines. Two-thirds of its employees, more than six-thousand, are employees of the federal government.
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