White House Asbestos Risk Forces Top Staff Relocation

The offices of some of President Donald Trump’s top aides, including his daughter Ivanka Trump and senior counselor Kellyanne Conway, have been temporarily relocated as the White House undergoes asbestos abatement work. An asbestos removal project is underway at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and is expected to be completed by the end of August. The abatement work will cost about $250,000, according to Pamela Pennington, press secretary for the U.S. General Services Administration. “The building has been, and remains, safe for occupancy as this work is being done as a precautionary measure,” Pennington said. In addition to Ivanka and Conway, policy adviser Stephen Miller, top economic adviser Larry Kudlow and members of the White House legal team have been relocated during the abatement project. Trump Has Praised Asbestos in the Past Removing asbestos materials as a “precautionary measure” is an unusual action for the Trump administration. The president has publicly advocated for asbestos in the past. In a 2005 U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing, he suggested that the twin towers of the World Trade Center may still be standing if there was more asbestos in the buildings. He also stated that safer alternatives don’t stack up to the durability of the toxic mineral. In his 1997 book, “The Art of the Comeback,” Trump claimed the anti-asbestos movement was a conspiracy led by the mafia and that asbestos was “100% safe, once a...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: news