B4 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST.MONDAY, AUGUST 26 , 2019
North last Monday to talk to rid-
ers about their concerns. It was 95
degrees inside, Reusch said.
Some said they had no idea
why the station has been so hot all
summer, while others said they
were thankful they at least didn’t
have to wait long for a train
during rush hour. Other riders
said Metro could do a better job
communicating about the prog-
ress of the repairs. Most people
saw the heat as an inconvenience
that comes with riding Metro.
“Most people are not outraged
or upset at this issue any more
than they were about SafeTrack or
repeated issues with arcing insu-
lators,” Reusch said.
Where Metro can help riders
and itself, Reusch said, is in send-
ing a clearer message of why the
work is taking so long.
“When a job like this takes
four-plus years to complete, to
me, that suggests that it is more
than a complicated job. There are
some shortcomings in terms of
how the job was managed,”
Reusch said. “It is in Metro’s inter-
est to admit when that is the case
and to say, ‘We can do better.’ ”
[email protected]said, but as of two weeks ago, the
extent of the problem was un-
known, as was the timeline for
completion. Metro spokeswoman
Sherri Ly said the agency had no
additional information beyond
what was posted.
“Once all pipes are repaired/re-
placed, full system leak testing
will begin, a process that will take
several days to ensure that the
network of pipes is properly
maintaining its charge,” Metro
said.
Once that process is successful,
it will be another three to four
days of programming, preparing
the pumps and charging the chill-
er system. Because it is so hot
outside, once the cool air is back,
it could take several more days to
bring down the temperatures on
the platforms, Metro said.
The best Metro could promise
is that the work will be completed
“as soon as possible.” The agency
said that, if necessary, it will have
crews working around the clock.
Riders have expressed their
frustration on social media al-
most daily.
Reusch and other RAC mem-
bers descended on Farragutground pipes below Connecticut
Avenue NW, but while the pipes
passed hydrostatic tests, they “re-
vealed the presence of additional
leaks within the chiller plant it-
self.”
Repairs now require the demo-
lition of a concrete wall, MetroCrews started the permanent
repairs in November, but nine
months later, even Metro sounds
frustrated, saying the project “has
been beset by delays.”
The transit agency said this
month that contractors had com-
pleted installation of all under-that the stations are a “freaking
furnace,” “unbearable” and “inhu-
mane.”
The fans don’t provide much
relief as riders exit trains into
stations that often feel hotter
than the outdoors. The latest de-
lay also comes as the region en-
dures one of its hottest summers
on record. Even worse, this is the
fourth consecutive summer of
chiller problems at the stations.
“At this point, I wouldn’t be
surprised if we finished out an-
other summer without them
turning on the chiller,” said Colin
Reusch, a Farragut North rider
who also serves as chairman of
Metro’s Riders’ Advisory Council.
The chilled water system Met-
ro uses at those two stations is
supplied by a chiller plant under
the Connecticut Avenue median
across from the Farragut North
station’s L Street entrance. Metro
has made temporary fixes since
2015, work that required workers
to excavate to reach the pipe
underneath Connecticut Avenue.
The transit agency used tempo-
rary chillers the past two sum-
mers but hoped to have the sys-
tem fixed this time around.for Farragut North and Dupont
Circle has been broken for four
years, and there’s no indication
that the system will be restored
this summer.
Metro apologized earlier this
month, announcing yet another
delay in the now nine-month ef-
fort to repair the system. The
transit agency said a recent test of
the system found leaks, an unex-
pected complication that nixed a
plan to have it running in mid-
August. The agency says the de-
lays can be blamed partly on the
system’s “unique configuration”
— Metro’s oldest, it is also located
outside Metro property, some dis-
tance from the stations.
“We are as frustrated with the
pace of progress as many of our
customers,” Metro said in a note
to riders posted on its website.
“We will continue to take every
opportunity to expedite the re-
pairs. In the meantime, tunnel
fans will run at all times to pro-
vide air movement in the stations
until the chiller service is re-
stored.”
Meanwhile, riders complain
METRO FROM B1
chest, nodded.
Students who graduate from
the DSP Academy emerge with
several certifications, Amy
Brooks said, including for basic
CPR and first aid and crisis-
prevention management. By law,
all DSPs must possess a high
school diploma or GED equiva-
lent, a valid driver’s license, a
CPR certification and pass a state
background check.
As a bonus, the academy also
offers lessons on the history of
disability. On the first day of
classes in early August, Myers
learned how people with intellec-
tual disabilities were treated in
medieval times: locked up in
“idiot cages” or set sail on “a ship
of fools,” which paraded them
from port to port — charging the
public admission to come and
stare — before abandoning them
far from their homes.
It reminded Myers of epithets
tossed his way by kids “out in
public” during middle and high
school: “dumb,” “stupid,” “lazy,”
even “the r-word.” Once, he said,
someone told him he should be
“shut up in a basement.”
Those memories make Myers
more determined to graduate.
“I get to show people, parents,
clients that a label is not a death
sentence, a spectrum is not the
end,” he said. “We have to turn
the tide of all this cruelty.”
[email protected]ties, all enrollees need to meet a
few criteria: They must read,
write and “have basic critical
thinking skills in place, to be able
to make decisions that would
keep a person safe,” Susan Brooks
said.
For Myers, the question of
motivation was easy to answer.
“When I was 3, my very first
words were, ‘Stop bullying my
friend,’ ” said Myers, who was
diagnosed as autistic at that age.
“Yes, I was put on the spectrum,
but I always knew my purpose
and my calling” to help others
with disabilities.
On a humid morning last
week, he took the first steps
toward accomplishing that mis-
sion, settling into an orange chair
at RCM headquarters in North-
east Washington with his class-
mates and listening as clinical
director Birhanie Tessema taught
a lesson on health and wellness.
Over about two hours, Tesse-
ma offered his audience tips on
how to take a client to a doctor’s
appointment and how to trans-
late medical language “into the
simplest terms.”
“A verbal person can say, ‘I’m
having pain on my left leg,’ ”
Tessema said. “With someone
who is nonverbal, you observe
their facial expression. Or they
might be limping, touching their
left leg.”
Myers, arms folded across hisprocess for applicants involves
assessing the person’s “passion”
for the work, Susan Brooks said.
All prospective students —
whom RCM often identifies by
working with the Department on
Disability Services — must fill
out an application and write an
essay to gain admittance. Though
the academy aims to accept peo-
ple with a wide range of disabili-hour, according to Susan Brooks.
Many DSPs quit when they
realize they could make a similar
amount with much less effort “at
a place like Target,” Amy Brooks
said.
Still, Susan and Amy Brooks
suspect the turnover rate among
DSPs who graduate from their
academy will be much lower. For
one thing, part of the screeningemployment rate among Ameri-
cans without disabilities was
about 70 percent in the same
period, according to the BLS.)
The turnover rate among DSPs
nationwide, meanwhile, clocks in
at about 45 percent, Meek said.
That not only leads to a dearth of
DSPs — it can also significantly
disrupt daily life for people with
disabilities, she said.
“This person sees you naked,
helps you shower, just does an
incredible amount of intimate
things,” Meek said. “If that keeps
changing, it’s really hard to get
things done.”
Myers is part of the second
class, numbering 12 students, to
come through the DSP Academy.
The first, which graduated in the
spring, had nine high school
students, all with disabilities.
RCM placed one of the first
nine graduates directly into a
DSP role, Susan Brooks said,
although many of the others
opted to go to college instead and
may join the workforce later. She
is optimistic that the majority of
the second class, all of whom are
adults, will begin work as DSPs
immediately after graduation.
They’re in for a difficult job.
Working as a DSP can be gruel-
ing, and the pay is almost always
minimal, Meek said. Although
wages vary state to state, DSPs on
average earn $9 an hour, she said.
In the District, it’s about $15 perAndrew Reese, the director of
the Department on Disability
Services, said he believes the
initiative “complements Mayor
Bowser’s vision for inclusive
prosperity for all residents” and
aligns perfectly with his depart-
ment’s mission to help people
with disabilities pursue success-
ful careers.
The twin crises of unemploy-
ment and a shortage of support
personnel are in urgent need of
attention, said Sarah Meek, the
director of legislative affairs at
ANCOR, a trade association for
private companies and nonprofit
groups that provide services to
people with intellectual and de-
velopmental disabilities. In 2018,
about 20 percent of Americans
with disabilities were employed,
according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. (By comparison, the
PROGRAM FROM B1
selves about their next steps.
She said the store had a grow-
ing fall inventory in the back-
room after two months of buying
the seasonal clothes and shoes to
launch this month. With the
amount of destruction, Delica
said she fears the recovery could
be slow.
“At a time of a tragedy, like
this, to know that the people in
the community appreciate you
being there is encouragement
enough to just want to open your
business again,” she said. “We
are all devastated, but we are
also encouraged by a community
to do what we have to do to
open.”
Rohit Chawla, owner and chef
at the Indian restaurant Mango
Grove, said he heard about the
blast from some of his employees
and quickly went to try to esti-
mate the damage. From outside,
he could only see glass damage,
but he wasn’t allowed to go
inside.
“We are all sad this happened.
We are also thankful that nobody
was hurt,” said Chawla, whose
restaurant has been in Columbia
since 1996, but at that location
since 2011.
Other nearby buildings sus-
tained minor damage from the
blast, including broken glass, of-
ficials said. Immediately after the
blast, a widespread power outage
affecting businesses in the area
was reported. As of early Sunday
evening, BGE reported 22 cus-
tomers remained without power.
A fire department photo from
the scene showed a building
partially collapsed and a fire
outside the structure.
Some neighbors who live as
many as five miles away said that
they heard a loud boom about
8 a.m. and that homes shook.
Resident Shawn Webb said
that he heard a “loud rumble”
and that the drawers from a
cabinet fell open. “I thought it
was an earthquake at first,” he
said.
[email protected]in ruins.
“It is very heartbreaking,” said
Delica, who left the corporate
world and used all her savings to
open the upscale women’s cloth-
ing resale shop two years ago.
“I am encouraged to know
that it happened at a time when
no one was there. Thank God,”
she said. “But what do we do
now? We have to start over.”
Delica’s store, like the other
businesses, was slated to open at
noon Sunday. The owners were
instead trying to figure out their
losses and talking among them-urge you to get to safety and
report it.”
The county’s economic devel-
opment authority will have a
team assisting displaced busi-
nesses and workers, Ball said.
“We will do everything possi-
ble to minimize the impact of
this explosion on those who are
affected by it,” he said.
Some business owners said
they received alerts early Sunday
after the explosion set off secu-
rity alarms, and many rushed to
the site. Suzanne Delica arrived
to find her store, Clothes Mentor,unoccupied and in setting up a
perimeter after “multiple re-
ports of hissing sounds coming
from a large crack in the parking
lot of the building.”
“Fortunately, because of their
actions and because this hap-
pened on a Sunday morning
when no one was inside the
building, there are no reported
injuries at this time,” Ball said in
a tweet. He said the explosion
should serve as “a reminder for
us all to do our due diligence to
ensure safety. If you suspect a
gas leak or have any concerns, I(R) thanked first responders and
offered the assistance of the
Maryland Joint Operations Cen-
ter and the state fire marshal in
the investigation.
“This massive explosion in
Columbia was felt in many of the
surrounding communities, a
shock to families across the
area,” Hogan said in a tweet.
“Thankfully, no injuries have
been reported so far.”
Howard County Executive
Calvin Ball (D) also praised the
prompt response from firefight-
ers to ensure the building wasThey checked the building and
immediately evacuated bystand-
ers, backing up about 1,000 feet
from the building.
“We were formulating a plan
when the building exploded,”
Hardesty said. “The building is
probably totaled.... There is a
lot of structural damage.”
The Lakeside Columbia build-
ing, a property managed by Hol-
land Properties, has a gym, a
coffee shop and small restau-
rants on the first floor. There are
legal, medical and other profes-
sional offices in the building. A
large portion of the L-shaped
building is occupied by a Social
Security field office.
Denise Weist, a spokeswoman
for the county fire and rescue
services, said officials are still
assessing the damage and it
would be an “extended opera-
tion” to determine what is re-
pairable.
The building remained at risk
of collapsing Sunday afternoon,
authorities said. Hardesty said
fire crews were working with
building inspectors and the
property owner to secure and
stabilize the structure.
Hardesty said it was unclear
what caused the gas leak, but fire
investigators are working with
the utility company, Baltimore
Gas and Electric, to pinpoint the
origin.
BGE issued a statement, say-
ing that it received a call from
the fire department early Sun-
day about a gas leak and that a
utility crew member was on site
when the explosion occurred. A
spokesman said there had been
no other reports of leaks or the
smell of gas in that location.
“BGE crews have turned off
gas service and are currently
working closely with the fire
department. Once it is safe to do
so, BGE will investigate the cause
of the incident,” the statement
said.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan
EXPLOSION FROM B1
‘We were formulating a plan when the building exploded,’ a fire o∞cial said
Program training the disabled to work for those like them helps fill vital need
With long-broken chiller system, 2 busy Metro stops described as ‘unbearable’
MICHAEL S. WILLIAMSON/THE WASHINGTON POST
Antonio Myers, who is on the high-functioning end of the autistic
spectrum, says his calling in life is to help others with disabilities.KATHERINE FREY/THE WASHINGTON POST
An investigator sifts through debris at the site Sunday. After the blast in Columbia, a Baltimore Gas and Electric spokesman said there had
been no other reports of leaks or the smell of gas in that location. BGE said it would investigate the incident “once it is safe to do so.”MATT MCCLAIN/THE WASHINGTON POST
The cooling system for Dupont Circle and Farragut North has been
down since 2015. Metro says it will be fixed “as soon as possible.”The DSP Academy is
the first initiative of its
kind in the D.C. area
and probably in the
nation, experts said.