Tenants say mold problems persist at Winterport apartment complex

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Tenants say mold problems persist at Winterport apartment complex

By Walter

Monday, December 04, 2006 - Bangor Daily News,Bangor,ME

By Walter

Bangor Daily News

http://bangordailynews.com/news/t/news.aspx?

articleid=143722 & zoneid=500

WINTERPORT - Residents of the Village Heritage apartments feel they

are struggling for every breath.

For the most part elderly and on fixed incomes, the residents have

been battling a mold problem in the building for years and have

become increasingly worried that the problem is not going to be

corrected.

" All we want to do is live naturally, " said Margaret Whittier,

motioning to a thrumming air purifier on a nearby end table. " That's

the only thing we have to keep us from coughing. If they would just

do something to keep us from coughing. "

According to A Maxfield Jr., director of management for

Liberty Management of Portland, the owner of the complex, the mold

problem appears to be one of design and location.

Maxfield said the apartment building's full basement has a tendency

to collect water, as does the ground around the building's

perimeter. A wet month like November only exacerbates the problem.

" The goal with mold is you've just got to get the water out of the

building, " Maxfield said last week. " The perimeter drains and floor

drains have all been cleared, and we have dehumidifiers in the

basement. Everyone would like to have an immediate resolution, but

there is no immediate resolution. A wet building is just that; it's

a difficult situation. "

The 16-unit complex was built in 1974, and Liberty Management has

owned it since the late 1980s. The company has 48 apartment

buildings around the state; Village Heritage and two others are the

only ones with full basements, Maxfield said.

Maxfield said basement storage areas for the individual units had

played a part in the problem because old furniture and bedding kept

there also collected moisture.

A walk through the basement last week revealed a small area of

standing water in one corner of the building, clusters of mold on

parts of the floor and a musty odor of dampness. A few old, damp

cushions leaned against a wall.

" We think it's [the mold] coming up through the floor and is in the

rugs, but we can't get them to pull them up, " said Arthur Whittier,

Margaret's son and next-door neighbor. " I know it's up here now, but

I can't prove it. What I can prove is that something's got to be

done for the people here. "

Whittier recently purchased a home testing kit at Home Depot that

indicated the presence of mold, but the agency that oversees the

subsidized apartments does not recognize its results, he said.

Ellie Langway has lived with the problem for seven years and, along

with Margaret Whittier, raised her concerns with the town three

years ago.

Town Manger Philip Pitula said the town has been in frequent contact

with Liberty Management. He said getting the problem solved was a

top priority.

" It's a big drainage problem they have, and they have been working

on the problem, " Pitula said of Liberty Management. " I've been

working with them, and they have been doing some things. They're not

ignoring the problem; they're just having a difficult time fixing

it. I know it's kind of frustrating to the tenants because it's been

so long. Sometimes getting a big ship to right itself takes time. "

Like the Whittiers, Langway and some other residents also have

purchased portable air-purifying devices. Langway said they carry

the units to their bedrooms at night and living rooms during the day.

" If you take them from one room to another you can breathe pretty

good, " she said.

Langway said that whenever she goes away for a few days, her

problems seem to go away. The minute she returns home, however, her

problems come back.

" I leave and go out and my eyes feel better and I can breathe, " she

said. " I'm not 15 minutes inside my door and my eyes start burning

and I can't breathe. My doctor said there wasn't anything he could

do except for me to move. "

Margaret Whittier said she was not going to leave the home she has

known for 15 years. She said she will continue to complain until the

problem is resolved, noting that just because she is getting on in

years does not mean she doesn't have any fight left in her.

" If we want to live here we've got to fight, and it's too bad you

have to fight to get things done, " she said. " When you get to our

age we shouldn't have to be talking to anybody about these things.

Our kids want us to move, but I don't want to give in; I love my

home. I don't usually complain, but I think this has gone too far. "