Greenwood Mold Not As Bad As First Reported

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GREENWOOD, LA

Greenwood Mold Not As Bad As First Reported

March 2, 2007 09:02 PM EST

http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S=6170488 & nav=0RY4RQCJ

KSLA-TV Shreveport Fri, 09 Mar 2007 12:58 PM PST

What began as valid concerns over mold has turned into a public

relations nightmare for the town of Greenwood, just west of

Shreveport. Several town leaders tell KSLA News 12 that panic and

over-reaction has blown their 'real' problem way out of proportion.

Greenwood Police headquarters closed for good after the

discovery of toxic levels of mold. It will soon become a pile of

rubble. Mold was also found next door at Greenwood Town

Hall. " This building was very minor, " summed up Greenwood

Alderwoman Ellise Wissing.

Inspectors discovered mold behind drywall in the town hall

board room, and also in a small portion of the ceiling and air

ducts. Then came claims of toxic conditions at town hall. Wissing

recounted the report: " That the place was full of mold and their

employees were in jeopardy, their health was, just you know, really

built up horrible. "

Greenwood clerk Marilyn Sims told us claims of employees in

jeopardy were flat out false. " We weren't, we weren't really

affected here, you know. " And contrary to the claims, the clerks

said they never worked during mold removal. Another clerk working

during our visit Friday morning told us, " we were in another

building. We couldn't be in here while they were doing it, they had

quarantined it. "

What upset Wissing is such panic before test results had even

returned. Even when the results showed 10-times more mold outside

the building than the air inside, some still called for closing the

building, prompting Wissing to respond. She recalled the

exchange, " ...and I finally said, 'where are you going to go if it's

10 times worse outside the building than inside? You know, what's

the deal.' "

The mold remediation, or removal, is now complete. Now comes

the other hard part, replacing all the drywall, for example, that

had to be torn out to get to the mold. Total cost of the project?

Greenwood's Chief Financial Officer Carroll estimated it's

going to be about $12,000. But those here said it is worth every

penny. Bids are now going out to complete those post-mold repairs.

As for police headquarters, until a final decision is made on a

permanent location, police will work from a rented building just

down the road along Highway 80. The Greenwood board meets again for

a non-voting work session next Thursday, where the mayor said he'll

give an update on the mold removal and repair effort.

Story by Jeff Ferrell