Long-standing concerns about the busiest courthouse building in western Massachusetts are getting new attention.
Massachusetts Congressman Richard Neal has asked the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse in Springfield, where for a decade state employees and attorneys who practice in the building have voiced worries about air quality, water leaks, broken down elevators, and other problems.
“We’re asking for cooperation from the federal government which has, let’s be candid, more tools than anybody else does when it comes to these sorts of issues,” Neal said. “The federal government has a long reach.”
The Springfield Democrat said he contacted the agencies after being asked for help by the Hampden County Bar Association.
Neal said he spoke personally with U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, who oversees OSHA.
“We intend here to follow the science and not offer any opinions until we know exactly what the conclusions are,” Neal said Monday as he addressed a gathering of lawyers and courthouse employees assembled on the patio outside the building at 50 State Street.
Tests performed by an expert hired for a lawsuit that seeks to force the permanent closure of the Ireland Courthouse found toxic mold in vents, behind walls, and beneath carpets, lawyers announced this week.
Jeffrey Morneau, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said maintenance problems have persisted for years as evidenced by numerous water-stained ceiling tiles, areas that have been painted over, and a recent backup of sewage that spilled out on a floor.
“The problems in that building are clear to the naked eye,” Morneau said. “You don’t need to be an expert to walk through there to see that there are problems.”
An environmental advisory committee of courthouse staff said five people who once worked in the building – three of them judges – have died of ALS. There have been at least 60 cancer cases in the last two decades.
About 500 people are assigned to work in the building and more than 1,000 people come in daily because they have business before the courts or have been selected for jury duty.
The Hampden County Register of Deeds and the Hampden District Attorney have both moved most of their staff out of the building to satellite offices or to work from home. Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi is no longer transporting inmates to the courthouse, providing them instead with live video connections.
But Hampden County Clerk of Courts Laura Gentile said her staff has to report to work in the building so long as the trial courts are open there.
“We cannot just stop,” Gentile said. “People deserve their day in court. They have to have their day in court.”
Gentile was the first person to make public the health and safety concerns about the courthouse. After she was elected court clerk in 2012 she sent a detailed report to the administrator of the Trial Court and testified at a State Senate committee hearing.
“And here we are nine years later,” she said with a tone of frustration.
Members of the city’s state legislative delegation have attempted for years to get funding to build a new courthouse.
Recently the Trial Court said it would make repairs and renovations costing an estimated $90 million. A new courthouse would cost in excess of $200 million, according to the court administration.
