For the third week in a row, there have been issues with the air conditioning at the Environmental Protection Agency headquarters, sending indoor temperatures well above 80 degrees, sources told CBS News.
Staff members have received emails both explaining that repair efforts were underway and that the administration is trying to reduce energy consumption.
Multiple elevators have malfunctioned in recent weeks, leaving EPA employees at times stuck between floors. On more than one occasion, according to sources, the elevator has dropped suddenly.
One group of employees was relocated to a basement area next to a firing range where federal law enforcement officials practice shooting. EPA staff, experts in environmental hazards, have expressed wariness about lead levels in the air.
Career staffers have wondered among themselves whether the workplace issues are another mechanism to induce resignations and further shrink the federal workforce, according to multiple people who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media.
Work on the air conditioning is underway, Taylor Rogers, a White House assistant press secretary, told CBS News.
“Joe Biden’s EPA wasted $4 million on a one-room museum instead of required maintenance for the building because employees weren’t actually required to show up to work,” Rogers said. “The Trump EPA is working diligently on improvements to their building which will complete long-overdue maintenance to the carpet, elevators, air conditioning, and more for employees who have returned to work.”
An administration official said the elevator parts were ordered four months ago, but officials have been told they will take about 18 months to arrive.
The General Services Administration, the agency that manages and maintains federal real estate, is paying for the elevator repairs. Other improvements will be paid for by EPA funds, the official said.
Hundreds of EPA employees have already agreed to leave their jobs as part of the administration’s voluntary “Fork in the Road” deferred resignation program.
Last week, EPA leaders placed about 140 employees on administrative leave after they signed a letter in June to the administrator, Lee Zeldin, criticizing administration stances, including policies they felt “undermine the EPA mission of protecting human health and the environment.”
Several longtime EPA staff told CBS News the steamy conditions at their desks have made workplace life uncomfortable, especially during a stretch of extreme weather with the heat index reaching above 100 degrees.
One email from EPA’s Office of Mission Support sent to employees and reviewed by CBS News cited equipment issues in the William Jefferson Clinton complex, where the agency is headquartered. After the subject line “Warmer than Usual WJC Building Temperature,” the email said the General Services Administration “has made us aware that they are experiencing issues with the chillers” and was working to resolve the issue.
Another email sent by the mission support office said there was an effort on days where it’s over 90 degrees outside to “conserve energy to alleviate the strain on the grid during peak energy usage periods (3-7pm) and to help prevent power outages.”
Employees swapped photos of the digital carbon dioxide and temperature monitors on their desks. On June 26, when the high in Washington, D.C., was 95 degrees, one monitor registered the indoor temperature at 84 degrees and humidity at 61%.
Another email to staff, from Cheryl Butler, a building manager for the EPA, said “on the weekends the A/C gets turned all the way up so on Mondays the temperature is warmer than normal” in the Ronald Reagan Building towers, where EPA also has offices.
The EPA has been consolidating its footprint from two buildings into one, moving staff from the Reagan building into the Clinton building.
Two administration officials said the maintenance problems are not aimed at the career employees — they’re a result of old buildings and delayed maintenance. The previous administration didn’t invest in buildings that were partially empty, due to work-from-home habits. The air conditioning at the White House, too, has had recent issues, one official said.
The air near the north building firing range, which is insulated, is regularly tested for safety, two of the sources said. A high lead level in that area had been an issue in the past but abatement was done during the Biden administration, other officials said.
Jennifer Jacobs is a senior White House reporter at CBS News.
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