Victims and families of those who died in the collapse of Champlain Towers South were disappointed Monday when the federal investigation into the disaster released no new information about what caused it.
The agency leading the probe, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, gave an update to its advisory board on where it stands and where it’s headed.
"Please know that I and our entire investigative team are deeply committed for however long it takes to finding out why this building collapsed," lead investigator Judith Mitrani-Resier said during her presentation.
But it soon became clear just how long it’s going to take NIST to provide answers into the June 24 collapse that took 98 lives.
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"It's a very complex investigation," said associate lead investigator Glenn Bell. "We have a lot of work to do in a short period of time. Everybody is anxious for answers."
But what engineers consider a short time is a lot longer than what those most affected want to hear.
David Rodan, who lost a brother and three cousins in the disaster, called in during the public comment period to express his disappointment.
"The reality is we were expecting a lot more information in this presentation," he said, after hearing the determination of the cause or causes of the collapse could take years.
"We’re feeling that we're going to have a lot of work to do in a couple-year period to get a lot of that work accomplished," Bell said. "But our work will probably extend beyond two years."
That, even with a $22 million supplemental budget boost from Congress.
Still, no matter how long it takes, NIST made clear, the goal remains the same.
"NIST is deeply committed to conducting a very thorough and complete investigation of the Champlain Towers South so that a tragedy like this never happens again."
