State prepares to OK building after odor forced state workers to leave

Odors that triggered complaints from state employees in a building immediately east of the state Capitol over the past month have diminished, a spokesman for the state Department of Finance and Administration said Monday.

The odors prompted the state to temporarily move some employees who work inside the 501 Building, said finance department spokesman Scott Hardin. The building is located at the corner of Woodlane Street and Capitol Avenue and holds some 200 workers.

An odor surfaced last week, and the source was the fireproofing spray used by a company installing pipe for a sprinkler system, along with fireproofing material, Hardin said last week.

Odors have surfaced twice in the past several months during a project to install a comprehensive sprinkler and fireproofing system in the 501 Building. The project started about four years ago and is to keep the facility up to code.

The majority of the first floor has the sprinkler system and fireproofing installed, along with the third and sixth floors, Hardin said.

“Because of the age of the building, the installation of this system is sometimes a two-step process,” he said in a written statement.

“First, we have a contract with an environmental company [Gherkin Environmental] that completes asbestos abatement before another company [Ross Sparks Builders] installs fireproofing material along with pipe for the sprinkler system.

Work (abatement and installation of fireproofing material/pipe) is currently underway on the fourth floor. Once the environmental company has completed work removing their material, that space is then filled with a latex, fireproof product,” Hardin said.

“While this is not a harmful product, employees on the fifth floor reported they detected an odor [last week],” he said.

“Every accommodation was made to relocate staff to portions of the floor where the odor was not present. Employees have since reported no issues as staff has checked on several occasions to ensure the odor does not continue to [affect] any individual,” Hardin said.

Employees were moved to a different section of the fourth floor last week, and the plan was for them to move back to their regular offices on Monday, Hardin said. However, they were still relocated by Monday, he said.

“In order to err on the side of caution, they will give it extra time (likely a couple of days) to be certain no odor remains before moving employees back in to offices,” Hardin said in a written statement.

Complaints arose about an odor in the 501 Building in late August, and the resulting investigation showed that odor was from latex paint being used, Hardin said.