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April 18, 2003 - 8:29:45 AM EST

HES mold issues ongoingBuilding project well under wayBy M.E. HARVARD -- Project Manager Dave Scarchilli and Industrial Hygienist Tom Hamilton of OccuHealth came to Monday night's School Committee meeting to explain a recently completed Air Quality Report. Their firm has been conducting tests at the elementary school to determine causes and recommend remediation for ongoing mold issues in the school, particularly in the kindergarten wing, where health concerns have surfaced and the problem is most prevalent. Also in attendance to hear the presentation was Spacciapoli of the Harvard Board of Health, which has issued orders in regard to the mold problem, setting a deadline and specifying steps to correct it. It was an amicable meeting of minds that ended after about an hour, with an action plan in place and at least one BOH order up for reconsideration. What's next? Outlining the process, Superintendent Mihran Keoseian said that the study and subsequent report were preliminary steps. With "real data" in hand, the next phase addresses the question, "what's next?" he said. The report includes "short and long term activity lists framed in the context of emergency orders issued by the Board of Health, which were the starting point for recommended remedies." Ultimately, the School Committee must make a decision. The report will help them do that, offering a biological perspective. It begins by sketching the mold problem's historic trail, including a "long history of leaks," Scarchilli said. Causes and cures Suspecting that water was the original culprit, they were authorized to do a "screening survey" and discovered that the heart of the matter was inside the walls, where mold lurked in the "interstices" between studs, perhaps sustained by dampness in the gypsum, one of the sheathing materials used inside the walls. Gypsum apparently soaks up water and retains it for a long time, in a process known as "wicking," a good feature for hiker's gear, but undesirable in construction materials. Mold spores thrive on dampness. The report states that most potentially hazardous mold the screening revealed is inside the walls and that when conditions dry out enough, it will die. Although spores were found in the classrooms, concentration was low. And the problem centers in the kindergarten wing. Putting the matter in perspective, they explained that mold is as likely to be inside walls as it is anyplace else where it's dark and damp, including the odorous crawl space beneath the kindergarten wing. There, water apparently continues to seep in and stay. In fact, it fills with water at certain times of the year due to the high water table. One reason for the wing's water woes is a construction issue involving drainage, including a berm built the wrong way, slanting water flow toward the building instead of away from it. That's being rebuilt, Keoseian said, and gutters will be installed to redirect water run-off from the roof away from the foundation. Dried up mold isn't a health hazard and live mold spores are only dangerous when they are disturbed and become airborne, or, to use an asbestos remediation term, "friable." The board was informed that the situations are similar and that in both cases, to safeguard the health of students and staff, removal should be done only when there's nobody in the building. That would be the long term goal. A "maintenance plan" would fill in the gap, Hamilton and Scarchilli said, and itemized the details, including testing on a statistically significant number of classrooms at intervals that could decrease over time, as the database increased. For example, tests might be done seasonally at first, and eventually just once a year. In the meantime, rules for containment must be consistent and known to anyone who comes in contact with the walls, from custodians to classroom teachers. The rule of thumb for the time being is leave the walls alone. Absent a "gaping hole" in a wall where "viable" spores are present, mold spores can also escape via any means of "air exchange, large or small," explained the Board of Health's Spacciapoli, even through electrical outlets and tiny nail holes. He also noted a telltale "odor" that suggests mold in the crawl space, where there is equipment that requires access. The Air Quality Report lists remedial options that address the problem as a whole, prioritizing measures that must be taken immediately under certain conditions and in specific areas, and pinpointing those that can be postponed. Comprehensive testing of every room in the kindergarten wing, for example, shows that the types of mold found are not the kind known to cause health problems, and despite "active" mold in the walls, the classroom air shows no evidence that it is "compromised." But even without a red flag, management is necessary, the experts said. Ironically, a costly but necessary plan to upgrade the HVAC system that heats, cools and ventilates the building, may cause the problem they seek to avoid, since construction work may set free the mold spores that are now trapped in the walls. Keoseian, for one, has seen this catch-22 coming, and is calling for a volunteer task force to tackle the "what's next" issue from that angle. To that end, he's asked several members of the school staff to work with representatives from various town boards on an "Indoor Air Quality Committee." Stated goals are to address the OccuHealth report recommendations and provide "guidance and oversight for the operations of our resources." Some things are all but unavoidable, such as a "common sense" recommendation re-stated during that meeting, that "if you have active mold growth, you should remediate it." That could mean anything from a simple solution to major restructure of the 50-year-old building. The maintenance plan, however, shouldn't be a budget buster. The OccuHealth team's estimate puts the per test cost in the $1,000 range. The Board of Health expects a letter from the committee, summarizing what was discussed and what they plan to do. Presented with an alternative plan regarding a BOH order that called for replacing a wall, Spacciapoli said that it might be workable. However, ventilation is a key concern. "Get an HVAC man to sign off on it and it suits me," he said. Wrapping up the discussion, the new chair summarized what a short term action plan might look like. First, take care of the water problem, then establish a maintenance plan per suggested guidelines. (Both the BOH and OccuHealth also noted a suggested reading list along those lines, including the EPA's "Tools for Schools.") Before discussion wrapped on the subject, HES science teacher Terry Monette had something to add. Every year when kindergarten teachers ready their classrooms, which have been closed all summer, they find a powdery white substance coating all the books and surfaces, she said. She thinks it's mold. They dust it off, wondering if it's a health risk, she said. Hamilton and Scarchilli didn't think so. Dubbing the described substance "not typical," they doubted that it was mold at all. It would be easy to find out, they told Monette. Collect samples and they'll test it.