Rodent infestation, exposed wires and more at a Baltimore Recreation and Parks facility
Continuing her close look at city government workplaces, Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming finds “unsafe and unsanitary conditions” at a maintenance building
Above: Dead rodents at 2100 Washington Boulevard, a Baltimore City Recreation & Parks maintenance facility at the Carroll Park Golf Course. (Baltimore Office of the Inspector General)
On a September 11 visit to a city recreation and parks facility on Washington Boulevard where about 15 laborers and maintenance workers are based, employees pointed to stains in the ceiling where the roof had leaked and fallen in, dead bees inside the ceiling light and a number of blocked exits.
“An exit door in the employee break room was blocked” and another exit door had “a padlock on the exterior and a handle missing on the interior,” according to a report by Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming.
The investigators also noticed a tangle of exposed wiring where an air conditioner was plugged in.
“An employee stated that the rats run through this area and chew the wiring,” the report, released yesterday, said. “There were visible rodent droppings among the wires.”
The workers described an ongoing “rodent infestation” problem at the facility, noting that “they do their best to clean the office and sweep up rat droppings.”
But their complaints to the Department of General Services about the rat infestation did not have any impact.
The OIG report includes dead rat photos taken by employees earlier this year on May 28, June 3, June 10 and September 9.
“These conditions are absolutely horrible. Can you imagine working in this kind of an environment?” Cumming said, speaking with The Brew.
“The OIG’s observations raise concern for the health and safety of the BCRP employees assigned to that office location,” Cumming wrote in a letter submitted to the agency on September 19.
Rat droppings among exposed wiring connected to an air conditioner. BELOW: Exterior of the facility at 2100 Washington Boulevard. (Baltimore OIG)
City’s Response
The OIG’s findings reflect Cumming’s latest attempt to shine a light on unsafe conditions for city workers.
In a series of reports earlier this year, the IG uncovered hazardous workplace conditions at the sanitation yards run by the Department of Public Works’ Bureau of Solid Waste.
The workers, responsible for city garbage and recycling pickups, were laboring amid record high temperatures and humidity at the time of Cumming’s visits to sanitation yards, where she and her staff found no air conditioning or cold water, broken ice machines, broken lockers and sinks and other problems.
Amid Cumming’s investigation, sanitation worker Ronald Silver II, died of heat stroke on the job amid extreme heat.
On the same day (August 2), Recreation & Parks Director Reginald Moore and other agency brass made a site visit to 2100 Washington Boulevard.
They inspected the premises “and reviewed essential amenities, such as heating, air conditioning, hot water, toilets, the ice machine, and the availability of water and Gatorade for staff,” according to Rec & Parks’ response to the OIG report.
They also identified other issues in a letter (see below) sent to the OIG on October 3.
The response acknowledges rodent infestation and says that “monthly pest management treatments [are] scheduled.”
Asked yesterday if any pest abatement measures have since taken place at the worksite, Rec & Parks officials have so far not replied.
Excerpt of BCRP’s response to OIG report on conditions at 2100 Washington Boulevard. (OIG)
“We are actively addressing all concerns, with service requests submitted and contractors engaged – our leadership team remains committed to providing safe working conditions for all,” BCRP said, “as evidenced by” recent capital projects.
In August, Director Moore, together with Mayor Brandon Scott, celebrated one of those capital projects not far from the dilapidated maintenance building.
Scott cut the ribbon on the $3.5 million renovation work to convert a former Police Athletic League Center into the Carroll Park Recreation Center, described as a state-of-the-art facility with a gym, classrooms and offices. Funding was provided by the South Baltimore Gateway Partnership.
Mayor Brandon Scott at a August 12 ribbon-cutting for $3.5 million in renovations at the Carroll Park Recreation Center. BELOW: Dead rats photographed June 10 and September 9 at the maintenance building at Carroll Park. (Instagram, OIG)
Other findings cited in Cumming’s report include an inoperable shower, multiple instances of exposed wires, equipment unsecured in an unlocked garage and a Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (DLLR) Certificate of Inspection dated August 27, 2015 – with an expiration date of August 27, 2017.
In its response, Rec & Parks said it has “initiated contact with issuing authority.” The pesticide permit, the agency said, “is current and active,” even if not posted.
The OIG noted that the workplace conditions “potentially violate Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) regulations and Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) that the City of Baltimore has with its labor unions.”
Expired inspection certificates from the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. BELOW: Used tires and empty water containers stored behind the facility. (OIG)
