Mold in mansion is ousting governor (South Carolina)

August 6, 2005

Saturday, August 6, 2005

Mold in mansion is ousting governor

Spores, water leaks require extensive fixing

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By Rice

JOURNAL RALEIGH BUREAU

RALEIGH

What the Republicans couldn't do, apparently a whole lot of mold

spores could.

Gov. Mike Easley said this week that he and his wife must move out

of the governor's mansion because of repairs required by extensive

mold contamination in the 114-year-old home.

" I understand it'll be pretty soon, " he said. " They didn't say I had

to move. They just said they were moving out all the furniture,

cutting off the water and the electricity and bringing in the

jackhammers. "

Before the Easleys moved into the mansion in 2001, state officials

took more than two months to repair the home's ventilation system.

Workers attempted to kill mold spores they found at the time and

cover it with a sealant.

" It worked temporarily, but it came back, like mold will do, " said

Cari Boyce, a spokeswoman for Easley.

Legislators told a more detailed story last week about a bucket on

the third floor of the mansion that Easley didn't know was used to

collect water that drained from the heating and air-conditioning

system.

" Jim Hunt had a bucket over there to catch it, " Sen. Hoyle, D-

Gaston, said of the former governor. " Well, Mike didn't know to

catch it - so it filled up and spilled over and leaked. "

A Web site of the N.C. Office of Archives and History describes the

1891 mansion as " one of the state's finest examples of the Queen

Anne style of n architecture. "

According to Hoyle, Easley said at a recent meeting at the mansion

with legislators, " This place is falling down.... If you put your

hand on the wall, be careful - you might fall through. "

Mold spores can cause allergic reactions, including runny noses,

sneezing, red eyes and skin rash. Easley said that air and breathing

conditions in the house have gradually worsened until, at a meeting

with Wake County legislators two weeks ago, one member " was coughing

and wheezing and sneezing. "

In an inspection on July 18, Herrick, an environmental

engineer from Cary, found active mold growth in the air ducts.

Condensed water was dripping from water lines running to air-

conditioning units in the basement and attic.

In the attic, Herrick found " a persistent leak " and a wet spot in

the floor above the second-floor Rose Room that he attributed to

water dripping from cold-water pipes.

Secretary of Administration Gwynn Swinson ordered the State

Construction Office to make emergency repairs, citing " a dangerous

and hazardous condition at the governor's mansion. "

So out the governor goes.

Easley said that he and his wife, , will move into other state-

owned housing, but his security detail is still studying potential

places. It will be months before they can move back in, he said.

Easley wouldn't be the first governor who had to find temporary

quarters. Gov. Jim Holshouser also had to move out of the mansion

for renovations. In Arkansas, Gov. Mike Huckabee and his wife moved

into a " triplewide " donated by the manufactured-housing industry

while Arkansas' governor's mansion was renovated in 2000.

• Rice can be reached in Raleigh at (919) 833-9056 or at

drice@...

August 6, 2005

KC, PLEASE EMAIL ME, OK?

THANKS,

V.

[] Mold in mansion is ousting governor (South

Carolina)