Mold to push governor out of mansion

[Guest guest]

KTBS 3 Shreveport LA

Mold to push governor out of mansion

  posted: 05-05-2005

BATON ROUGE (AP) -- Mold is forcing Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and her

husband, , to make other living arrangements this summer.

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.

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

$525,000 project is completed.

Officials said the black mold detected in the ducts at the 42-year-old

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

Former Gov. Mike resisted recommendations to have the work done when

he lived there -- instead putting filters over the vents when they started

spewing black soot.

During a visit to the mansion this week, said he told Blanco

of a possible alternative to a two-month project. He

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

living in the ducts within two days. He said the state's recommended method

seems to be the " old-fashioned, expensive way. "

Facility Planning and Control Director Jerry said 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 mansion 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.