Caltrans Accused of Putting Workers at Risk

A state employees union Thursday accused the California Department of Transportation of endangering the lives of hundreds of its workers by waiting more than a month to respond to a warning that the agency’s Los Angeles headquarters is a fire hazard.

The state fire marshal warned Caltrans officials in a July 11 letter that the building at 120 S. Spring St. has “serious deficiencies” and there is a “high probability that fire could occur unless mitigation measures are taken.”

The fire marshal wrote that the 60-year-old building’s electrical system is overloaded, and ordered Caltrans to reduce staffing in the building from 1,500 to no more than 1,200.

In response, Caltrans this week moved nearly 650 workers to leased offices and other Caltrans buildings in the region. Some employees were asked to work from home.

But the state engineers union blasted Caltrans for waiting six weeks to respond to the letter, calling it “reckless, negligent decision-making that threatened the lives of hundreds of employees.”

Ted Toppin, a spokesman for the Professional Engineers in California Government, said the sudden evacuation of so many employees will disrupt the work of Caltrans employees who manage the freeway systems in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Caltrans spokeswoman Margie Tiritilli said the department has moved as fast as possible to find new office space for its employees in Los Angeles. “We do care about the health and safety of our employees,” she said.

The four-story building, built in 1941, includes a high-tech traffic management center where police and engineers monitor traffic on the 615 miles of freeway in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Caltrans officials have acknowledged seismic and electrical deficiencies in the building and noted that the agency is building a $140-million headquarters near Main and 2nd streets. It is expected to be completed by 2004.

In May, the engineers union asked a Superior Court judge to order Caltrans to immediately evacuate the building because of the safety concerns.

In legal papers, the engineers union charged that the building is a fire trap because it has no fire alarm and a flawed ventilation system. The union also charged that only the building’s garage is protected by an automatic sprinkler system.

The judge rejected the request after Caltrans promised to cut headquarters staffing by September.

But Caltrans was forced to speed up the evacuation after the letter from state Fire Marshal John Tennant. He told Caltrans Director Jeff Morales that “expeditious action must be taken to mitigate serious deficiencies” in the headquarters.