Ten U.S. senators increased public pressure on the Trump administration Wednesday to protect tenants in public housing from radioactive gas in response to a yearlong investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive.

The bipartisan effort intensified after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ignored a request from Oregon Democrats Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley to explain by Jan. 6 what the agency would do to safeguard residents from radon exposure.

In a letter Wednesday, lawmakers requested a meeting with Ben Carson, the housing secretary, to understand why HUD has failed to act and to find a solution. It’s unclear if Carson will honor the request or when a meeting might occur.

“To have 10 percent of the United States Senate weighing in on an issue like this, I think, sends a significant message,” said Wyden, Oregon’s senior senator who is leading the coalition.

In all, 14 U.S. senators or representatives have now called for radon protections in public housing. Joining Wyden and Merkley on Wednesday’s letter are five senators who previously spoke publicly in response to the newsroom investigation, plus three additions: Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, and Angus King, I-Maine.

“This is a serious issue and it needs to be addressed,” King told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

The newsroom’s “Cancer Cloud” investigation found that HUD and local housing authorities nationwide have failed for three decades to prevent radon exposure in public housing. The gas is estimated to kill 21,000 Americans annually and is the second-leading cause of lung cancer.

HUD does not require radon testing by housing authorities despite a mandate from Congress in 1988 for federal officials to protect tenants from hazardous levels of exposure. HUD in 2013 began “strongly encouraging” housing authorities to test but has failed to monitor progress.

The newsroom surveyed 64 agencies nationwide, collectively responsible for nearly 125,000 units of public housing, and found that fewer than one in three could produce records showing they looked for radon.

Wyden and Merkley were the first federal lawmakers to respond to the November investigation. In a sharply worded letter to Carson, they expressed serious concern that HUD had neglected its legal responsibility to protect tenants from radon. They pressed for answers to six questions, including whether HUD would push for mandatory testing and mitigation.

HUD chose not to respond to the senator’s query by a Jan. 6 deadline. HUD on Tuesday didn’t respond to questions from the newsroom about why the agency stayed silent.

Wyden countered by building a bipartisan coalition of 10 senators to force the issue.

“I said, ‘Let’s up the ante,’” Wyden recalled.

The senators on Wednesday continued to call out HUD’s inaction, writing that the agency “has not proactively ensured that low-income and vulnerable tenants are safe from radon.” But the letter was also more conciliatory in tone than the initial December dispatch from Wyden and Merkley, seeking “ways we can work together to solve this issue once and for all.”

The letter encouraged HUD to request in its upcoming budget enough money to pay for testing and mitigation in public housing. The senators said they were eager to work with HUD and urged “swift action to address this problem.”

HUD’s only response to date came hours after The Oregonian/OregonLive published its story. The agency emailed a “reminder” to housing authorities nationwide, encouraging testing.

That response has been largely dismissed as meaningless.

“The impact of the HUD notice is only as good as the availability of resources for inspections and mitigation,” Adrianne Todman, chief executive officer of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, said in a statement Tuesday.

Also signing onto Wednesday’s letter for HUD action were Democratic Sens. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Bob Menendez of New Jersey, and Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin of Illinois. Durbin is the second-ranking Democrat in the Republican-controlled Senate.

With an impeachment trial looming, Wyden said he hopes to quickly set an agenda for a sit-down with Carson. But an actual meeting, he said, would not happen until after the trial to remove Trump from the presidency.

“HUD needs to step up,” Wyden said, “and pull together an actual game plan.”

-- Brad Schmidt

bschmidt@oregonian.com

503-294-7628

@_brad_schmidt

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.