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Health Checkup

The Architect of the Capitol is offering physicals to employees who may have come into contact with asbestos while working on renovations to a Cannon House Office Building room in mid-August.

The Office of Compliance is currently investigating whether asbestos was present in Room 263 when seven workers began removing tiles near a rear entrance.

[IMGCAP(1)] The AOC is offering the workers complete physicals, including chest X-rays, said spokeswoman Eva Malecki.

“Employee safety is our top concern,” she added.

The seven employees, who were not outfitted with protective suits or respirators, are concerned they may have inhaled asbestos dust disbursed into the air when the tiles were cracked. One particular form of cancer, mesothelioma, is associated with asbestos.

Wellstone Settlement. The late Sen. Paul Wellstone’s (D-Minn.) family will get more than $10 million from an insurance settlement with the operator of the aircraft in which Wellstone and seven others crashed and died Oct. 25, 2002, according to published reports.

Overall, Aviation Charter Inc. will pay $25 million to the victims’ families, including $7 million to the Senator’s estate and $3.25 million to the estate of his wife, Sheila, who also died in the crash, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Friday.

The rest of the money will goes to the families of daughter Marcia Wellstone Markuson, party activist Mary McEvoy, Wellstone Deputy Chief of Staff Tom Lapic and campaign worker Will McLaughlin.

Though the National Transportation Safety Board has not issued a final determination of the cause of the crash, a preliminary report indicated pilot error.

Inspector Goff. The Government Printing Office’s inspector general recently added Transportation Department veteran Jackie Goff to his staff.

Goff took over duties as deputy inspector general and counsel to IG Marc Nichols during the August recess.

Before heading the Transportation Department’s Intermodal Hazardous Materials Program, Goff also served in the General Accounting Office, Justice and Energy departments, and National Association of State Attorneys General.

— Jennifer Yachnin and Emily Pierce

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