Nevada County Settles With Contractors for $1.85 Million

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Nevada County Settles With Contractors for $1.85 Million

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LAS VEGAS -- Officials from Nye County, Nev., have agreed to

settlements totaling $1.85 million from contractors it blamed for

persistent mold problems in the county justice complex. County of

Nye v. Modern Controls & Refrigeration, et al., No. 02-A-448475

(Nev. Dist., Cty.).

At issue were mold problems in the Nye County Justice Complex, which

opened in July 1999 in Pahrump, Nev. The building housed the

district and justice of the peace courts, the county sheriff's

department, a 911 communications center and county offices.

Employees began complaining of odors a month after the complex

opened. Those initial odor problems were traced to a faulty septic

system at a neighboring property. But in November 1999, 36 county

employees filed complaints with the federal Occupational Safety and

Health Administration. Tests conducted in the following year for

radon, carbon dioxide, temperature and humidity problems were

inconclusive. It wasn't until January 2001 that the county undertook

a comprehensive mold investigation that resulted in the county

temporarily closing the complex on June 22, 2001, and relocating

employees.

The county replaced its heating and air conditioning system and

undertook extensive renovation of the justice complex before re-

opening on Sept. 4, 2001. The complex was closed again a few weeks

later, however, and some areas underwent a second attempt at mold

cleaning and removal between October 2001 and April 2003, when the

complex was re-opened.

Nye County officials said they spent a total of $3.5 million on

remediation, relocation of employees and investigation. They sued

numerous contractor defendants, alleging defective construction.

Experts retained by the county included internist and environmental

and occupational medicine specialist Craner, M.D., of Reno,

Nev.; consulting engineer Malcolm of CTG Forensics in Irvine,

Calif.; and construction expert Ed et of MC Consultants in

Carlsbad, Calif.

The contractor defendants maintained that mold remediation

contractor Terra Nova was negligent in performing the initial

remediation, which necessitated additional remediation and greatly

increased costs, according to a settlement report.

Settling defendants included Interstate Mechanical ($475,000);

Modern Controls ($375,000); Delta Controls ($75,000); Leland Dille

Architects ($100,000); Engineered System Associates ($150,000);

Intermountain Construction ($625,000); and The Trane Co. ($15,000).

There was also a report that Leland Dille Architects had a 'burning

limits' errors and omissions policy, in which policy limits were

eroded by litigation and other costs, and that another unnamed

defendant is the subject of a declaratory judgment action seeking to

rescind its CGL policy. The county's mold remediation contractor was

said to be

uninsured.

on IV and Rosie L. ez of on & Vick of

Calabasas, Calif., and Las Vegas represented Nye County.

Defense counsel included Pengilly and Budd of Lorber,

Greenfield, Polito & Pengilly in Poway, Calif., and Helm of

Helm & Associates in Las Vegas for Intermountain Construction;

S. Lee and Natasha of Lee & in Las Vegas for

Interstate Mechanic; C. Brown of Las Vegas for Modern Controls

and Refrigeration; M. Jr. for Leland Dille

Architects; and B. Alverson of Las Vegas for Trane Co.

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