MA State inspects BHS for mold

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State inspects BHS for mold

By Halliday/ Staff Writer

Thursday, August 4, 2005

Concord,MA

http://www2.townonline.com/burlington/localRegional/view.bg?

articleid=297597 & format= & page=2

A representative from the state Department of Public Health found no

evidence of mold during an inspection of the high school last week,

according to town and school officials.

School Director of Operations and Finance Craig and

town Environmental Engineer Heidi Porter accompanied DPH

representative Feeney on a three-hour tour of the building

last Wednesday, during which time Porter and say no mold

was discovered at the school.

Porter said they found " nothing that sparked any concern from

[Feeney] or myself during the initial walk-through "

An attempt to reach the DPH for comment Tuesday was not

successful.

Porter said Feeney will return to the high school in the fall

to perform an air quality survey and check carbon dioxide levels in

the building.

Porter said she was under the impression that last week's

inspection was a follow-up to a 1997 inspection that discovered mold

and high carbon dioxide levels in the building. Town Meeting

responded by appropriating money to fix leaky roofs, improve

ventilation, and replace damaged ceiling tiles and carpeting.

said the inspection came at the request of parents

concerned about air quality at the school.

said that to his knowledge there is not an air quality

issue at either the high school or Marshall Simonds Middle School,

and that the school department is actively working to address poor

air ventilation in the Memorial Elementary School.

Last school year parents and staff at Memorial claimed that

poor air quality inside the aging building was making children and

teachers sick, while the school nurse there said she has documented

an increase in respiratory complaints from the staff and students..

In January the school department hired an industrial hygienist

to come to the building and test for molds and airborne particles

Air quality tests taken by HUB Testing showed a carbon dioxide

concentration of between 1,100 and 1,600 parts per million in

Memorial Elementary School classrooms. The Massachusetts Department

of Public Health recommends a carbon dioxide concentration of 600

parts per million, with a maximum of 800 in an occupied classroom.

The problem lies with the 50-year-old building's antiquated steam

heating system, which has no mechanical exhaust to force out bad

air, as well as the small size of the classrooms, which average only

about 760-square feet each.

" We need to do a better job improving air exchange at the

Memorial School, " said.

said Monday that mushroom fans will be installed on

the roof on top of a univent leading to each of the school's 20

classrooms before the school year starts. He said a fan was

installed in one of the classrooms at the end of the last school

year, and that it " improved the air quality dramatically. "

At Marshall Simonds, air quality tests taken in spring 2004

discovered elevated levels of carbon dioxide in the school.

attributed the problem to a newly installed $4.6 million heating,

air conditioning, and ventilation system which has since been fixed.

Architect Gene , who this summer inspected all the

town's school buildings for a Master Plan that will be presented to

Town Meeting next month, told the School Committee last week that

Marshall Simonds " obviously has good air quality at this point, "

referring to the new HVAC system.