Black Mold Questions at Government Housing Complex

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Black Mold Questions at Government Housing Complex

Reported by: s

04/09/2007 08:25pm

KOLR/KSFX Ozarks Mon, 09 Apr 2007 6:39 PM PDT

http://www.ozarksfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=6319

A Lawrence County woman says she's literally breathing easier after

moving out of a government housing unit. She claims her home at the

, Missouri housing complex was filled with black mold. But,

the manager there believes the evidence says otherwise.

Several weeks of packing and Kim is almost moved out of the

government housing complex.

" I feel a lot better now since I've gotten out of here. I don't

have to sleep with a face mask on. " says .

She believes black marks along her ceiling and wall are from mold.

" My case manager had cleaned my refrigerator and I came back the

next week and it was all a mess inside again. " says .

She reported her concerns, but a health inspector from the Lawrence

County Health Department could only survey the unit.

" I wish we could do more. I wish we had the equipment and people and

the expertise to do these types of things, but we just don't have

them. " says Boone, an Environmental Health Specialist for the

Lawrence County Health Department.

Bell Management runs the complex. It hired two separate companies

to perform a mold inspection in January and February. A

representative from Bell wasn't available to talk on camera, but its

president did release the summaries from both inspections to

KOLR/KSFX. Each report concluded that the discoloration was carbon

black, not mold. It's assumed the discoloration was caused from

cooking, smoking or burning candles.

Even though was the only documented tenant to file a complaint

about her unit, one of the other residents, Bolin, doesn't

accept the findings.

She says, " It's ridiculous. You can tell from looking at this

apartment that there's something bad going on up in here. "

But calls to the health department ended in a road block.

" There is no state law or county ordinance. So, the only thing we

can do is make an onsite evaluation. " says Boone.

The health department says mold inspections are expensive in rural

areas since the specialists are in more urban cities. If mold is

found, landowners typically have to replace ceilings and molding

which can cost thousands of dollars.

Meantime, Bell Management says it puts the health and safety of its

tenants first and says the results of the professional inspections

speak for themselves.