Someville:Lawsuit: Police station's condition criminal

August 8, 2005

Lawsuit: Police station's condition criminal

By Brock / Somerville Journal

Sunday, August 7, 2005

Toxic mold, bugs, rats and disease run rampant through the Someville

Police station in Union Square, according to 10 officers who are

suing to get out of a building they say has made them and others

sick for almost two decades.

``It's an injunction to get them out of the goddamn

building,'' said D'Angelo, the officers' attorney. ``They're

really concerned about their health.''

According to the suit, officers stationed at Union Square came

down with scabies as far back as 1986. Since then, the building has

spawned an epidemic of asthma and other respiratory ailments among

police and 911 dispatchers, according to the suit.

Mayor Joe Curtatone said he has been working for months to get

police out of the Washington Streetstation. ``But even if I found a

place tomorrow (to relocate police), it would take months, maybe

even a year to retrofit,'' he insisted.

Last month the city advertised for a place to move the station.

But only one local property owner on Dane Street responded to the

advertisement, and Curtatone said it could take the city until the

end of the year to determine if it can afford to move into the

building.

The mayor said it could also take millions of dollars to build

jail cells and a 911 call center at the Dane Street location. The

city also is exploring the construction of a new police station.

The lawsuit claims rare diseases, such as sarcoidosis, have

cropped up among three police officers because of damp conditions at

the station.

``The mayor has said we're going to get them out of there,''

D'Angelo said. ``They're still in the building. The kinds of

illnesses they're coming down with are pretty extraordinary.''

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