An inspector general's report has found that two buildings at the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan are emitting possibly deadly levels of electrical current.
The Department of State OIG report looks at problems with the power systems at an office annex and a staff residential building at the Kabul facility.
Related: Read the report
Electricians examining the buildings—which cost nearly $800 million to build—found that the New Office Annex was almost seven amps above the level in which an electrical shock could cause death, but the Staff Diplomatic Apartment was almost three times that level.
The office building opened in July 2015, can accommodate more than 900 personnel, while the residential building houses nearly 300 residents and opened in February.
The report said the most likely cause were "improperly installed electrical wiring, equipment, and faulty electrical appliances."
The OIG said testing at the facilities was conducted by Task Force Protect Our Warfighters and Electrical Resources, or POWER—a team from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers created following the electrocution of 14 personnel in 2008.
Task Force POWER made initial assessments of objectionable current in the two buildings likely came from poorly installed wiring.
Objectionable current occurs when current passes through the grounded wiring of a building, resulting interference, electromagnetic fields, fires and electrocution.
The report said that the Centers for Disease Control found that currents up to 10 amps could cause death. Task Force POWER found that the currents in the New Office Annex were 16.7 amps while in the Staff Diplomatic Apartment, they were 27 amps.
The OIG offered three recommendations, including:
- That the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations’ Facilities Management Office examine and correct the objectionable current issues in the building.
- That the OBO eliminate or reduce the risk to personnel in the buildings
- That the OBO inform occupants of the risk of the objectionable current and instructions on how to avoid it.
The OBO concurred with two of the recommendations and started action to implement them.
It did not concur that the objectionable current caused a problem for occupants, saying that, "the readings in residential and public spaces were consistent with readings taken prior to building occupancy, and OBO verified that the objectionable current was limited to locked and restricted mechanical and electrical rooms."
The OIG said that Task Force POWER informed investigators that objectionable current could be present anywhere in the electrical system until its source is located. The OIG considered the recommendation unresolved.
The report also considered its recommendation that occupants be informed unresolved, saying that warning signage did not include all relevant information, mostly because of the OBO's assessment that objectionable current was limited to certain rooms.
