BATON ROUGE, La.Blancos will vacate the Governor's Mansion

[Guest guest]

BATON ROUGE, La. Mold is forcing Governor Kathleen Blanco and her

husband, , to make other living arrangements this summer.

http://www.klfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=3303676

The Blancos will vacate the Governor's Mansion after the legislative

session so construction workers can clean the air ducts and replace

the heating and air conditioning units.

Facility Planning and Control Director Jerry says the Blancos

will live in a rented house in Baton Rouge for two months until the

525-thousand dollar project is completed.

says the black mold detected in the ducts at the 42-year-old

mansion isn't deadly but still needs to be removed. Former Governor

Mike resisted recommendations to have the work done when he

lived there. Instead, he put filters over the vents when they

started spewing black soot.

During a visit to the mansion this week, says he told

Blanco of a possible alternative to a two-month project. He says he

found on the Internet a new method of using ozone to destroy

anything living in the ducts within two days. He says the state's

recommended method seems to be the -- quote -- old-fashioned,

expensive way.

says cleaning the ducts isn't simple because getting to some

of them requires breaking through plaster. The ductwork in the

mansion dates to 1963, when the building was built.

Under the mold removal plan, construction workers will replace some

of the ducts, install access panels to be able to get to them in the

future, seal storage areas in the attic, remove asbestos and update

the air and heating to improve temperature control.