perfect decon if we know anyone in b town

[Guest guest]

>

> http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/291/metro/Mold_sickens_crew_sidetracks_Art

> ery_work+.shtml

>

> Mold sickens crew, sidetracks Artery work

> Setbacks may delay opening

> By Raphael , Globe Staff, 10/18/2002

>

> The Big Dig's schedule took another small hit yesterday, after high levels

> of airborne toxic mold at a job site forced the evacuation of laborers

> finishing a vent building, project and union officials said.

>

> The work at Vent Building Number 4 near Haymarket Square in downtown Boston

> is critical to the opening of the northbound section of the new underground

> expressway, which was supposed to occur Dec. 10 but had already been put off

> to an undetermined date early next year.

>

> O'Neill, a project spokesman, said the mold problem would probably take

> a few days to eradicate by power-washing walls with bleach and providing

> better drainage.

>

> He said it had yet to be determined who would ultimately pay for the mold

> problem, the cleanup, and the work stoppage. That finding, he said, would be

> made after a thorough investigation.

>

> ''This is not a significant hit to the schedule,'' said O'Neill. ''But the

> primary concern as always is the health and welfare of the workers, and if

> the schedule has to suffer for a few days, that's a hell of a lot better

> than the workers suffering.''

>

> A union official for a subcontractor at the job site, who asked to remain

> anonymous, said that hints of the problem had been evident for many months.

> An inordinate number of workers, he said, had suffered bronchitis, colds,

> chronic runny noses, and hacking coughs.

>

> The workers, he said, had never realized that the splotches of green mold

> evident over the walls and exit signs on the building's lowest three floors

> could be the culprit.

>

> Last week, a contractor on the job, Fischbach and , brought in an

> industrial hygienist, whose tests found high levels of mold in the air,

> prompting several subcontractors to pull their workers from the building's

> lowest floors.

>

> Their work is critical to the completion of the project, however, so the

> delays will almost certainly extend the time it will take to open the

> Artery's northbound portion. Without working vent buildings, which control

> air flow and even some electrical power for the tunnels, the federal

> government and local police and fire officials have said they will not allow

> the public to drive on the roadways.

>

> Fischbach and will return today with another industrial hygienist to

> conduct further tests.

>

> ''We've been complaining about this for a year and a half, but nothing's

> happened until now,'' the union official said.

>

> Carroll of the Globe s taff contributed to this report.

>