WASHINGTON — Human feces, used condoms, piles of trash.
They are what accounted for the "filthy conditions" found by Metro’s Office of Inspector General in 22 of the transit system's parking garages. A new, 27-page audit details broken glass and overflowing trash cans. Inspector General Geoffrey Cherrington says contracted custodians did not do their job, though the contractor was not named in new documents.
"Because of these parking garage conditions, risk of harm to the riding public increases," Cherrington said to WMATA’s board of directors on Thursday. "Rodents and other vermin are attracted to the parking garages and WMATA’s reputation is jeopardized due to unsightly conditions."
The Office of Inspector General estimated Metro lost $2.2 million on contracted custodial services over a two-year period. The inspector general said Metro lost that money because of workers slacking off 84% of the time.
The report said that an inspector observed one worker at the West Falls Church garage. The custodian, the report said, worked "only five minutes of a scheduled eight-hour shift, emptying two trash cans before leaving early for the day."
"It’s something that we would never want for our customers," Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said.
The Inspector General put some of the blame on Metro workers. Metro’s office of plant management was supposed to keep tabs on contractors. The inspector general said bosses fell short on oversight.
"A lot of focus has been on stations and platforms and we weren’t paying enough attention to the garages," Wiedefeld said.
The audit said the cleaning contract in question ended last August and that Metro has replaced contractors with its own workers. Transit agency officials have promised a thorough cleaning of all garages by April.
"We’ve already done a number of things to get that under control, Wiedefeld said.
WMATA garages 'filthy conditions'
