April 6, 2006

By ROSETTE ROYALE
Staff Reporter

Beginning in 1961, the curious could gaze through the glass windows of the University of Washington’s More Hall Annex, gaining an unimpeded view of a nuclear reactor in full operation. When the research lab was shut down in 1988, however, the windows provided little for folks to look upon, other than the reflections of trees and passersby.

But come April 11, when the university begins its final decommission and decontamination of the facility, those very same windows will cast a bright light on the contractor hired to do the job, LVI Environmental Services, Inc.

Just who is LVI? That depends on whom you ask.

Founded in 1986, the non-union company claims on its website that it provides the “most cost-effective, highest quality environmental remediation and demolition services available.” The university considers them to be a “very competent company.” Alex Bacon, a member of the Student Labor Action Project, describes them this way: “They’re the Wal-Mart of the abatement industry.”

Bacon’s belief about LVI stems, in part, he says, from the numerous allegations from former LVI employees of unsafe working conditions on job sites. Bacon says he understands how the open bidding process entered into by the university to decommission and decontaminate the now-defunct nuclear research lab led to the eventual selection of LVI. “It’s not surprising that any company that exploits its workforce would be able to make the lowest bid,” says Bacon.

Carlos Fernandez, a former LVI employee, considers himself one of the exploited. Speaking through a translator, Fernandez says that he was working for a Calif. subsidiary of LVI last year doing asbestos abatement, an industry term pertaining to the removal of asbestos and asbestos-laden materials. When he was offered an opportunity to do the same work in Seattle, on the Bank of California building, he says he decided to come north. “I came to Seattle because they told me [I’d get] more money,” says Fernandez, “but it never happened.”

In L.A., he says he was being paid $12 an hour. Fernandez says he was promised $14 an hour for his work in Seattle; he says when he got here was actually paid $10. The prevailing wage for a journeyman doing asbestos abatement work in King County is $33.46.

He says he often worked overtime, but was not paid for the extra work. Eighteen other co-workers who traveled from L.A. to Seattle with him, says Fernandez, found themselves in similar straits.

Fernandez says while on site in Seattle, LVI did not provide proper ventilation for employees who, in order to protect themselves from hazardous materials, spent their working hours in face and eye masks. Required water breaks, he says, were not provided. And employees were not always given access to showers, Fernandez says, when leaving contaminated areas of the job site. “They didn’t have the right equipment,” says Fernandez.

Employees were often rushed to complete jobs, he claims: sometimes asked to do in one or two days what would usually take five. “That’s just no good,” Fernandez says. “It can make for an accident.”

But allegations of LVI worker abuse extend to areas further than the Northwest. After Hurricane Katrina, LVI was contracted to do cleanup in the Gulf Coast, including mold remediation. Articles in The New York Times and The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune detail instances of unsanitary and unsafe worker conditions. An exposé on the PBS series NOW documented similar complaints from workers in the Gulf Coast, particularly those of undocumented workers.

LVI, the country’s largest asbestos abatement company whose annual gross sales topped $250 million in 2004, has been cited over 90 times in the past 10 years for violating workplace safety regulations, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Those fines amount to almost $54,000.

Norm Arkans, executive director for media relations and communications at UW, says LVI was selected through a competitive bid process involving three pre-qualified companies (those with knowledge of nuclear decontamination and decommission).

The radioactive fuel rods at the facility were removed in 1991. Even still, there is the possibility of residual radioactive material may be on site.

With a total project cost of $4.1 million, LVI is to be paid $3 million for the “construction” phase of the project. “Our primary concern,” Arkans says, “is to do this within budget and on time.” Project completeion is slated for mid-October.

Arkans says he has heard about allegations of LVI worker abuse post-Hurricane Katrina, but doesn’t know what substance there is to those claims. In regards to Fenandez’s claim of abuse while working for the company in Seattle, Arkans says, “This has nothing to do with the project we’re working on here.”

He says the university stands behind LVI. “We believe they’re a very reliable company and we expect to get a very reliable product from them,” says Arkans.

When asked to comment on the decommission project, a representative for LVI says, “Our policy is not to talk about any specific projects with anyone other than our clients.”

Bacon admits that with the project set to commence on April 11, it’s highly unlikely the university will rescind its contract with LVI. Even still, he says there are ways to hold the company accountable.

He says that SLAP, along with three labor unions, UW faculty, and clergy, has created a Standards of Conduct document for LVI, which was given to UW executive vice president Weldon Ihrig at the end of March. The document, which the coalition is asking LVI to sign, asks for workers to be fully compensated for their work, to receive water and adequate bathroom facilities, and to be offered full medical insurance while working on the project.

These requests and numerous others listed on the document are important for non-union laborers, says Bacon, as they ensure the workers will feel confident in speaking up about any safety violations they encounter. Such confidence, he adds, has benefits that surpass those who will be doing the actual work of hazardous waste removal.

“ It gives [the workers] the ability to be whistleblowers if they see things that might be putting the whole campus at risk.” n

[Event]

The Student Labor Action Project is sponsoring a “fashion show” and parade to raise awareness about workers’ rights, the decommissioning/decontamination of More Hall Annex, and the University’s choice of LVI as project contractor. The event takes place on Thurs., April 6, on the Hub Lawn at noon.