The Capitol Power Plant

Summary

The OOC conducted a comprehensive inspection of the U.S. Capitol Power Plant (CPP) during the 111^th Congress. The facility provides steam for heating and chilled water for cooling Capitol Hill buildings, but does not produce electrical energy for the Capitol campus. The CPP includes the Administration Building; the newly expanded West Refrigeration Plant (the East Refrigeration plant is being removed from service); the Boiler Building, which houses boilers, a bag house, storage areas, shops, a communication center and two smoke stacks; an ash collection building; three office trailers; two cooling towers; a coal yard including off-loading facilities for rail cars and an underground oil storage tank; a coal conveyor tunnel; a Hazmat storage shed; an emergency generator shed; the Blue Storage Building; Load Center One Building; several contractor trailers; two US Capitol Police kiosks; and the transfer building.

111^th Congressional Inspection Findings

The OOC identified 184 hazards in the CPP, including 27 found in steam stations inside buildings connected to the utility tunnels. Steam stations for the House buildings were not inspected because of scheduling difficulties. Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement between the OOC and the AOC, a private contractor conducted quarterly audits of the utility tunnels; accordingly, the OOC did not inspect those areas, and any hazards found there are not included in this report. The 184 hazards discovered for the 111^th Congress represent a decrease of 19% since the 110th Congress. See Figure 1. It should be noted, however, that the OOC issued a single general finding to cover the many instances of lockout/tagout hazards identified throughout the plant. The same approach was taken concerning the incorrect installation of fire door latching devices, as discussed later in this report, and for heat stress issues.

Figure 2 shows the findings broken down by Risk Assessment Codes (RACs). Figure 3 shows the breakdown of findings by the types of hazards found. RAC 2 findings decreased by 22% between the 110^th and 111^th Congressional inspections, falling from 102 to 80. RAC 3 findings remained about the same, while RAC 4 findings dropped from 24 to 15, a reduction of 38%.

Out of the 184 total CPP findings, 94 (51%) were electrical hazards, fewer than in the 110th Congress but roughly the same on a percentage basis. Thirty-five findings (44%) of the electrical hazards were classified as RAC 2. Fire hazards
represented 28% of the total findings, and first aid deficiencies made up 3% of the total. The remaining 40 CPP findings included hazards involving lockout/tagout, boiler and pressure vessel safety, fall protection, General Duty Clause hazards, tripping hazards, hazards associated with fork truck operations and problems with battery charging areas. Inspections inside steam stations found problems with corroded piping and value systems, ripped asbestos lagging, and no documentation as to whether pressure relief valves were being adequately tested.