Industry publication, December 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document in

complete work in the suite by the end of the weekend. The outcome will deter­ D econtamination mine how officials proceed in cleaning up 11 other Senate offices.

BUG BUSTERS TO GAS ANTHRAX LAIR Lt. Dan Nichols, a spokesman for the Capitol Police, says that cleaning up the entire Hart building is a “large under­ AS SENATE OFFICES GET CLEANED UP taking.” The Capitol Police are in charge of the anthrax investigation and clean- CLEANUP WORKERS ARE EXPECTED up. Nichols declined to put a price to begin key remediation of the tag on the ongoing effort I Government officials admit they I anthrax-tainted Hart Senate Office HARI Building over the Dec. 1-2 weekend. are in unchartered territory, a fact il The cleanup has been delayed for weeks as government and industry officials debated the best method for cleaning the 1-million-sq-ft facility. And, officials say it will be another i ShV VI h UM-K I-. BtH.DiMi reflected in the pace of the cleanup. Initially, officials decided to remedi­ ate the entire nine-story building using chlorine dioxide gas because it would be the “fastest, most protective I two to four weeks before the build­ MEMBERS ■ ing is likely to reopen for business. AND STAFF I A.:; and least destructive approach” (ENR 11/12 p. 15). But after reviewing the Cleanup contractors will focus on kT ALL TIMES EPA cleanup plan, some experts the suite of offices used by Senate I VISITORSFROM claimed that the gas would damage Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D- I 9:00A.M. the offices, including computers. S.D.). It was in his office that a letter H The only experience with the gas as containing a potent strain of anthrax ", an agent to kill anthrax was in labs. was opened in October, Over a 12- to Government officials then adopt­ 18-hour period, a chlorine dioxide k'/ ed a piecemeal approach using a gas solution will be pumped into the t -T variety of technologies, including offices from a machine outside of iLt application of a foam developed by the building. Daschle’s offices will be r the Sandia National Laboratories, isolated from the rest of the building Albuquerque, N.M., to decontami­ as a concentration of the gas ranging nate stairwells and freight elevators. between 500 and 750 parts per mil­ ------- 'C » That work is done. The foam is pro­ ............................................

lion is pumped inside, says Richard duced by EnviroFoam Technologies, Rupert, a U.S. Environmental Pro­ Huntsville, Ala. tection Agency geologist acting as a Officials later determined the gas [ site coordinator. will not damage computers at con­ Some preliminary decontamina- L, centrations used and that it is more tion work already has been done in permeable r Imagine than foam. “____ ______________________ those offices using a high-tech vacu­ spreading shaving cream every- _________ um _____________________ cleaner to remove some anthrax . where,” says an official. □ spores. Officials say they hope to CLEANUP Chlorine dioxide was easier than foam. By Sherie Winston

managers leaving every year, and that’s Surveys high.” Why managers leave is the focus of

STAFF TURNOVER PLAGUES another survey by Hornberger Manage­ ment Co., a Wilmington, Del.-based executive search firm specializing in the CONTRACTORS DESPITE REMEDIES construction industry. ‘When contrac­ tors hire us to do a search, they also usu- FOR THE PAST EIGHT YEARS, CONTRAC- cializing in the construction industry, ally have questions about how to reduce tors have enjoyed a booming market. Turnover was highest among resident!^ their turnover to stop the bleeding,” says But their managers and executives have builders, at 15.1%. Highway contractors Frederick Hornberger, HMC’s president. enjoyed an even bigger boom: A short­ had the lowest turnover, at 11.7%, fol­ According to the results of over 1,000 age of experienced senior people guar­ lowed by heavy contractors at 12.1%, interviews of contractor execs conducted anteed that the door was wide open to municipal utility contractors at 12.9%, by HMC, dissatisfaction with the immedi­ new opportunities at other companies. building contractors at 13.8% and indus­ ate supervisor is the top reason that a Now, two new studies have attempted to trial contractors at 14.3%. manager leaves. “Decisions to leave a define and remedy some of the prob- “The turnover rates are as of August 1 company are often emotional, rather § lems of management turnover. this year, and are actually down a full per­ than financial. In some cases, a firm’s I The average staff-level turnover rate cent from last year,” says Jeffrey M. Robin­ turnover crisis can be traced to a single I among contractors was 14.1% this year. son, president of PAS. “Our sense is that individual,” says Hornberger. On the oth­ < according to a survey of contractor ben- the turnover rate has probably dropped er hand, “we see some managers who we o efit released by PAS Inc., a Saline, Mich.- at least another percent since Sept. 11. think are underpaid but you would nev­ I based management consulting firm spe- But this still is one out a every seven er get them to leave because they like the

14 ENR/DECEMBER 3, 2001

NYC-WTC_000141937