During the snow storms in early Feb., Councilmember Tommy Wells toured the facility and spotted issues with the facility. A few weeks ago, he told City Desk:  "I saw mold and ceiling damage was in the stairwells." He also said residents complained about plumbing problems, and concerns over cleanliness.

Wells' staff followed up by interviewing residents and doing their own mini-inspections at D.C. General. The staff even pitched in with some case management services.

But that was three, four weeks ago. So why is the District Department of the Environment only now inspecting D.C. General? The agency is apparently inspecting the shelter today.

We are waiting for answers from DDOE on that one.

Wells' office does report that the District's Department of Real Estate Services inspected the shelter last year.

The Department of Health reports it has not inspected D.C. General. The Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs says it has also not inspected the former hospital. "We haven't inspected this property and nobody has brought any issues with this property to our attention," says DCRA spokesperson Mike Rupert.

Whether the DDOE abates the mold or not may be a moot point. The shelter had drastically reduced its population–from a record capacity of 200 families to 109 families on Monday.

Staring Jul. 1, DC will no longer issue construction permits for roadway and driveway builds involving coal tar. It will also be illegal to sell the stuff. Coal tar has been used as a pavement sealer for many years but comes with some nasty environmental side effects. The District Department of the Environment says the ban seeks to prevent toxic chemicals from being carried along with rainwater into the Anacostia and Potomac rivers and Chesapeake Bay.

Plenty of folks at this point (hat tips: Scott's Take, DCist) have pointed out that the Mayor's Conservation Corps—part of the city summer jobs program—have spent their first days on the job handing out paper doorhangers.

Many of them have ended up on the street and sidewalks, and then there's the obvious irony of promoting a green initiative by distributing tons of thick paperstock around town.

LL called up the D.C. Department of the Environment, which runs the Green Summer Jobs Program, and asked spokesperson Alan Heymann about the doorhangers and the ironical elements at play.

The point of the doorhangers, Heymann says, is "to announce to the community that the conservation corps is going to be out doing this type of work" and to solicit project suggestions from residents.

But why use dead trees to do so?

"Not every resident of the District of Columbia is on a listserve or a blog," he explains.

In any case, they're printed on 100 percent recycled paper with vegetable inks, 100,000 of them have been printed, and they're being distributed everywhere the corps operates—which is pretty much everywhere but Ward 3. (Not as much work there, Heymann notes, but if you have a suggestion for a project there, call 535-2325.)

Soon the kids will move on to more substantial work—some have already started tree box inspections. "This is kind of by way of introduction," Heymann says. "It's a long summer."

And in any case, Heymann says, kids shouldn't be tossing the hangers on the ground. "When we get a report [of littering], we send the kids back out to fix it," he says. "We certainly don't want any litter on the ground."