WASHINGTON, D.C., DC, UNITED STATES, October 15, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) today filed a new motion asking the DC federal district court to require further action on its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests concerning asbestos assessment, abatement, monitoring, worker protection, and disposal during the White House East Wing demolition.
The motion follows the court’s August 5, 2026 order requiring the Department of Labor, Department of the Interior, and National Park Service (NPS) to respond to ADAO’s requests. Labor and the National Park Service subsequently released limited and partially redacted records, but ADAO argues that key records remain missing and that the agencies have not demonstrated that adequate searches were conducted.
“Nearly a year later, the records needed to answer basic questions about the safety of the East Wing demolition are still being withheld from the public,” said Linda Reinstein, President and Co-Founder of ADAO.
“These questions include:
Where was asbestos found?
How were workers and bystanders protected?
What did the monitoring show?
And how were asbestos-containing materials handled and disposed of?”
“These are common-sense public safety precautions. If the White House took these precautions, it should have proactively made the documentation available to the American people, and especially the workers and residents in the Washington, D.C. area who may have been at risk of toxic exposure. If the White House failed to adequately protect the public from exposure, the public should have access to the basic information necessary to understand the asbestos hazards that were created,” she stated.
The released records indicate that asbestos was identified in the East Wing during a September 2025 assessment. Abatement occurred from September 24 through October 17, immediately before above-ground demolition began. The records state that a third-party industrial hygienist conducted air monitoring and sampling and provided a final clearance report to Clark Construction. However, the underlying assessment, abatement, monitoring, clearance, worker-protection, and disposal records have not been released.
The records also raise questions about regulatory oversight. After receiving a complaint about possible worker exposure, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) opened an investigation and requested monitoring results, corrective-action documentation, and other supporting records from Clark Construction. But a Clark representative said agreements with the White House prevented the company from releasing project reports. The Baltimore office then sought guidance from OSHA headquarters about reviewing Clark’s asbestos records and was told to wait. There is no evidence that OSHA subsequently obtained the reports or directed further action.
The D.C. Department of Energy and Environment, which oversees asbestos-abatement requirements in the District, also sought information about asbestos, permitting, and worker safety. The released records do not show that the agency received documentation. This raises questions about whether the project was in compliance with applicable permitting and asbestos requirements.
Questions also remain about material transported through the District to East Potomac Park. National Park Service records indicate that the park was supposed to receive soil, not demolition debris. Despite this, several trucks were turned back because they contained debris. Pipes, metal cables, concrete and other debris were found in material already unloaded. NPS began monitoring trucks and collecting soil samples, but sampling results were not included in the released records.
The importance of timely disclosure is underscored by the recent release of more than 170,000 pages of 9/11 records by New York City concerning air quality, public health concerns, and the government’s response.
“The circumstances are very different, but the reasons for transparency are the same,” Reinstein said. “Twenty-five years after 9/11, newly released records reveal critical environmental and public health information the public should have had access to. We should not repeat that history. Records that can help protect workers and the public should be available proactively, purposefully, and when they can still help prevent exposure.”
In its motion, ADAO asks the court to require the Department of Labor and National Park Service to provide detailed declarations about which offices were searched and to explain withheld or redacted material. ADAO also seeks a separate search and FOIA determination from the Department of the Interior consistent with the court’s August 5th order.
ADAO submitted its initial federal records requests in early November 2025 and filed suit on January 7, 2026. The case is Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization v. National Park Service et al., No. 1:26-cv-00029-RJL. For more information, review the motion, earlier filings, court orders, agency responses, and supporting materials.
Tracy Russo
Asbestos Disease Awareness Org
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