WMATA Sued by Safety Commission in Dispute Over Worker Safety
Tom Ramstack
The Legal Forum, offering legal representation, language translation, media services.
WASHINGTON -- The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is being sued by the agency that oversees safety on the public transit system.
The Washington Metrorail Safety Commission is demanding that WMATA turn over information about its worker safety program, such as its procedure for removing asbestos.
The safety commission said WMATA ignored a subpoena in April requiring information about a variety of worker safety measures. In addition to asbestos, the commission sought data on drug and alcohol testing, maintenance schedules and lead dust hazards detected in work areas.
The safety commission audits WMATA every three years. It is an independent entity operating under an interstate compact to monitor and enforce safety on WMATA's Metrorail system in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
Before filing the lawsuit, the safety commission issued notices of non-compliance to WMATA after some of its workers allegedly failed to use personal protective equipment. The transit agency also failed to put in safety rails in some of its facilities, the safety commission says.
WMATA officials acknowledge that they have not complied with all the safety commission’s requests for information but only because their demands were “unreasonable.”
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They accuse the safety commission of exceeding its authority. They said they plan to challenge the lawsuit.
WMATA first revealed the presence of asbestos in rail cars nine years ago but added that it did not pose a threat to passengers. The transit agency hired a contractor to remove it from 280 rail cars.
At the time, WMATA officials described the asbestos as “an extremely small amount of a non-friable asbestos-containing material within the mechanical area of the rail car.”
The lawsuit filed in D.C. Superior Court is Washington Metrorail Safety Commission v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Case No. 1:24-mc-00144, filed Oct. 31, 2024.
For more information, contact The Legal Forum (www.legal-forum.net) at email: tramstack@gmail.com or phone: 202-479-7240.