Toxic mold lawsuits may become a growth industry

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http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/mascitti/10102002.html

Toxic mold lawsuits may become a growth industry

By AL MASCITTI

10/10/2002

Whatever else results from the discovery of large amounts of mold at the

Fenwick Park Apartments in Elsmere, the situation has the potential to turn

Delaware, at least for a while, into the mold-lawsuit capital of America.

The health problems molds can cause have been gaining attention, and

successful lawsuits against landlords and builders have prompted some

personal-injury lawyers to dub toxic mold the asbestos of the new

millennium.

Though the dollar amounts involved so far have been minuscule compared with

the sums involved in tobacco and asbestos litigation, suits have been

successful in many states, including Delaware. In fact, a Delaware case that

was taken to the state Supreme Court is among the landmark decisions

regarding toxic mold.

In that 1994 case, Stroot vs. New Haverford Partnership et al., a Wilmington

woman won a $1 million judgment when her landlord was found liable for her

mold-related illnesses. The Delaware Supreme Court upheld the jury's

decision, though it reduced the award by 22 percent.

Perhaps the most notorious toxic mold lawsuit involved a Texas mansion whose

owners were awarded $32 million. Their insurance company was slow to redress

a series of plumbing leaks, allowing a black mold called stachybotrys to

take hold.

Several strains of molds, none rare, are recognized sources of health

problems, with effects ranging from breathing difficulties and flu-like

symptoms to neurological damage, according to mold experts.

Public health officials won't know until next week whether the molds found

at Fenwick Park include the most toxic types, but the growing number of

lawyers specializing in such cases probably won't wait to line up clients,

especially with workers already removing affected materials.

Molds need little beyond moisture, darkness and a source of nutrients to

thrive. Given enough moisture, the inside surface of drywall panels are

excellent mold breeding grounds, experts say, which is why they recommend

removal, not merely treatment, of all water-damaged construction materials.

Some strains start growing within 48 hours; the wallboards in the dark,

uninhabited basement apartments at Fenwick Park were flooded 13 years ago.

The fact that some of the legal issues surrounding mold were settled in the

Stroot case will make the Fenwick Park situation that much more attractive

to attorneys. And the magnitude of the problem could make it a focus of

national attention, especially for the financially strapped insurance

industry.

At least 150 people have been displaced by condemnations of buildings at the

Fenwick Park Apartments in Elsmere, and as many as 700 could be affected if

all the buildings in the complex are found uninhabitable.

That could add up to anything from a lot of little lawsuits to one big

class-action extravaganza. Either way, it could become the biggest case yet

in what legal experts consider a field with tremendous growth potential.

Of course, even if affected tenants should go to court and prevail, it would

be years before they see any money. They say dark clouds have silver

linings, but they never mention how hard it is to extract the ore.

Al Mascitti's opinion column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Reach Al

at 324-2866 or amascitti@....