Danger lurks below U.S. Capitol

Hantman recently admitted to Congress having failed the workers. Responding to questions from Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., during a hearing last March, Hantman said: “We had ongoing inspections going, but clearly they were not adequate."

“Well, that's cold comfort,” responded Sen. Durbin. “I appreciate your admission, but I think it tells us that we have done a great disservice to these workers and their families.”

Hantman acknowledges problems, but says improvements are being made.

“We’re trying to solve problems and make sure that everybody who goes down, down into those tunnels, will be safe,” said Hantman.

Earlier this month, Hantman told Congress that his office completed "shoring" up, or repairing, the roof in one of the tunnels, completed a "statement of work" for contracting "tunnel dust clean-up and pipe covering repair" in another and awarded a contract to begin asbestos clean-up in the tunnels.

But the Tunnel Rats say it's too little, too late. “I can no longer turn to these employees and say, “You're gonna be safe,” says Thayer.

“We asked for help,” adds Raley, “and we’re not getting any. Simple as that.”

A report in March on the Red Tunnel for the Office of the Architect — obtained by NBC News — warns, “eventually the tunnel will cave in, severing the steam and chilled water lines to significant portions of the Capitol Complex.”

The Capitol Complex is composed of 13 government buildings, including the Capitol Police headquarters and the Supreme Court.

“It’s time for somebody to be held accountable,” says tunnel worker Tommy Baker.

Making these tunnels safe may cost as much as $500 million. So far, Congress has appropriated only a fraction of that — $27.6 million — for repairs.

“If this was all above ground,” says Scotty Smith, “they’d be doing something about it.”

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