WOBO supports the investigation into the tower collapse.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced it would launch a full technical investigation into what caused the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South Condominium in Surfside, Florida, on June 24, 2021.
“This is an unspeakable tragedy, and like all NIST investigations, we will conduct a fact-finding study to prevent tragedies like this in the future,” said James Olthoff, who is currently performing the duties of the undersecretary of commerce for standards and technology and NIST director. “We intend to undertake a thorough technical investigation into what caused the collapse, to ultimately make recommendations that would make our buildings safer and keep something like this from happening again. This effort will take time, but we will work on this as long as necessary.”
The NIST investigation will not interfere with the ongoing search-and-rescue operations.
NIST has been working with other government officials at the scene of the collapse, and the agency will continue to cooperate with all ongoing local, state and federal investigations. NIST investigators will only enter the actual site of the collapse after it is deemed safe for them to do so.
There are millions of high-rise condominium units in Florida alone, many of them near the ocean or aging. While a NIST investigation is intended to identify the cause of the Champlain Towers South collapse, it could also uncover potential issues for other similar buildings nearby and throughout the nation.
Passed by Congress in 2002, the National Construction Safety Teams (NCST) Act authorizes the NIST director to deploy expert teams after the failure of a building that resulted in substantial loss of life or posed significant potential for doing so. These investigations ultimately aim to improve the safety and structural integrity of buildings in the United States.