Some say they're sickened by mold in military housing near Grafenwöhr

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Some say they're sickened by mold in military housing near

Grafenwöhr

By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes

European edition, Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Photo

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104 & article=46241

GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — Family members and soldiers from the 2nd

Cavalry (Stryker) Regiment say their health is suffering due to mold

growing in their housing area.

Several families from the regiment, which is to deploy to Iraq in

August, moved out of houses in the military housing area of

Kaltenbrunn near Grafenwöhr Training Area this month after Army

inspectors discovered mold and contaminated timber in the units.

According to residents, Kaltenbrunn includes about 80 homes,

occupied mostly by 2nd Cav noncommissioned officers. Army health and

public works officials inspected 64 of the homes the day after the

mold issue was raised during a town hall meeting in April, according

to U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwöhr public affairs officer Nick

D'Amario.

A letter from the garrison's housing manager, Bob Arbios, to

Kaltenbrunn residents stated that moist areas were found in 45 of

the 64 units visited and evidence of possibly significant mold

problems was found in four units.

Arbios said that most cases of mold found in the neighborhood could

be treated simply by washing the area with detergent or bleach,

D'Amario wrote in an e-mail to Stars and Stripes.

Kaltenbrunn residents invited Stripes to inspect mold and water

damage in one of the units last week.

The unit's attic was sealed off with black and yellow tape. The tape

was there because of contamination by a range of dangerous metals

leached by arsenic-treated timber, said Rochelle Clayton, wife of

Sgt. 1st Class Leon Clayton. In another part of the house, a large

clump of sponge-like mold was visible behind a piece of recently

stripped ceiling.

Rochelle Clayton said the family was living in the unit before mold

forced them to move into a hotel this month. Clayton said she had

experienced watery eyes, a sore throat, swollen glands, ringing in

her ears and hair loss since moving to Kaltenbrunn in September.

She said her 12-year-old son, Chandler, developed respiratory

symptoms that included an irritated cough that lasted throughout

winter, and her husband also had breathing problems. He had not had

previous asthma problems but started using two inhalers and had

trouble running after moving into the house.

Since the family moved to a hotel, all three have recovered, she

said.

Kirk, the spouse of another 2nd Cav NCO, said her family moved

out of Kaltenbrunn after her son, Logan, 10, experienced severe

respiratory problems that doctors attributed to their moldy house.

Kirk said her husband also developed breathing problems after

returning to the house after field exercises and temporary duty in

the United States.

She said she asked authorities about water damage that was visible

in the house when she moved in last August. She said she was told

not to worry about it.

But after her son became sick, she mentioned the mold to his doctor,

who recommended the family move.

Persuading the Army to move the family was an arduous process that

involved appeals to virtually everyone in the chain of command up to

the garrison commander, Kirk said.

But when they finally moved to a new house in nearby Hutten

everyone's health improved, she said.

" After two days, Logan stopped having snot run down his face and

black circles around his eyes, " she said.

But Kirk is worried that the problems in her old house have not been

fixed properly. Instead of ripping out walls to remove the mold,

workers had merely scraped off surface mold and applied mold killer,

she said.

" How long before somebody else's children get sick? " she asked.

Some families who would like to move out of Kaltenbrunn appear to

have run into a brick wall.

Housing is in short supply in and around Grafenwöhr due to the

arrival of large numbers of soldiers and family members. By 2008,

what was a 1,000-soldier garrison with 2,000 military family members

will swell to a brigade-sized community with 4,500 active-duty

soldiers and 7,000 family members.

Last year, the garrison's housing office ditched a plan to house new

arrivals within a 30-minute drive of post and started offering

troops homes as far as 45 minutes away because of the lack of

adequate housing.

Last week, Rochelle Clayton said her family wanted to move to a new

unit, but the Army told them they must return to their house in

Kaltenbrunn once remediation work is done.

" They want to rip out the walls and expose all these mold spores to

my mattress and all our clothes so they can fix it and move us back

in, " she said.

The family moved into a hotel on the same day her son found out his

father was going to Iraq again, she said. " We need to be a family

and not have the hardship of sharing a room with our child and dogs

locked up in a room. It is not a good way to be a family, especially

with the impending deployment, " she said.

Now it appears Rochelle Clayton won't have that hardship.

The Army called the Claytons on Friday to offer them a newly

completed home in the Netzaberg housing area, which is being built

to handle the influx of soldiers.

Seth Robson / S & S

Families living in some off-post housing units in Kaltenbrunn near

the Grafenwöhr Training Area claim mold is making them sick.

Seth Robson / S & S

Mold grows around a fixture in a downstairs bathroom in the home of

Sgt. 1st Class Leon and Rochelle Clayton in the military housing

area of Kaltenbrunn near Grafenwöhr Training Area.

Seth Robson / S & S

Yellow tape seals off the door hatch leading to the attic at the

home of Sgt. 1st Class Leon and Rochelle Clayton in military housing

area of Kaltenbrunn near Grafenwöhr Training Area. The family

complained of health problems they attributed to mold, and has since

been offered new quarters in the Netzaberg housing area.

Inspections find spores, other substances

During a town hall meeting in April, residents of the Kaltenbrunn

housing area complained to Army leadership about mold in their

living areas. Stars and Stripes has obtained two reports by the U.S.

Army Garrison Grafenwöhr Industrial Hygiene Field Office that look

at contamination of one house in the neighborhood.

One report states that visible mold was observed on the ceiling of

one room.

" The wallpaper is separating from the walls in several areas

allowing mold to grow on the inner layer. The presence of mold

increased the potential for airborne mold spores in the residence, "

the report states, adding, " the moisture retention throughout the

residence significantly increases the potential for further mold

growth. "

It also states that: " The tenants are experiencing adverse health

effects. The physician's [sic] has diagnosed that environmental

factors may be exacerbating the child's medical condition. "

The other report states that a green substance found on beams in the

attic of one of the units is " heavy metal leachate containing

chromium, copper, lead, zinc and possibly arsenic. "

The report states that 12 out of 14 surface samples detected lead

dust that exceeded the EPA health-based benchmark for lead and one

out of four wood beam samples exceeded the EPA health-based

benchmark for copper. EPA health-based benchmarks for chromium were

also exceeded in samples from the wood beams and the attic floor,

the report states.

" The leachate dusts appear to be contained in the attic, however

trace levels of copper dust were detected in the residence, " the

report states, before recommending that the beams be sealed and the

attic vacuumed to remove contaminants.

Some of the residents in Kaltenbrunn have compiled their own

database that includes dozens of photographs of mold and water

damage as well as a door-to-door survey that shows 14 families in

the housing area reported respiratory illness since they moved in.

Additionally, 26 families reported water damage in their homes, and

14 reported visible mold in their units.

— Seth Robson

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Mold facts

Exposure to damp and moldy environments can cause a variety of

health effects. Here are some facts about mold:

¶ Mold growth, which often looks like spots, can be many different

colors and can smell musty. If you can see or smell mold, a health

risk may be present.

¶ Some people are sensitive to molds. For these people, molds can

cause nasal stuffiness, throat irritation, coughing or wheezing, eye

irritation, or, in some cases, skin irritation. People with mold

allergies may have more severe reactions.

¶ Mold is found both indoors and out. It can enter your home through

open doorways, windows, vents and heating and air-conditioning

systems. Mold in the air outside can attach itself to clothing,

shoes, bags or pets and can be carried indoors.

¶ Mold will grow in places with a lot of moisture, such as around

leaks in roofs, windows or pipes, or where there has been flooding.

Mold grows well on paper products, cardboard, ceiling tiles, and

wood products. Mold also can grow in dust, paints, wallpaper,

insulation, drywall, carpet, fabric and upholstery.

¶ If mold is growing in your home, it needs to be cleaned, and any

moisture problems need to be fixed.

¶ Mold growth can be controlled by keeping humidity levels between

40 percent and 60 percent; promptly fixing leaky roofs, windows and

pipes; thoroughly cleaning and drying after flooding; and

ventilating shower, laundry and cooking areas.

How to get rid of mold:

¶ Remove things from the home that are made out of cloth, unless you

can wash them with hot water. Also remove items that can't be

cleaned easily (like leather, paper, wood and carpet).

¶ Use bleach to clean mold off hard things (floors, stoves, sinks,

certain toys, counter tops, flatware, plates, and tools). When doing

so, follow these steps:

Never mix bleach with ammonia or other cleaners.

Wear rubber boots, rubber gloves, goggles and a mask that blocks

airborne particles.

Open windows and doors to let in fresh air when you use bleach.

Mix no more than 1 cup of bleach in 1 gallon of water.

Wash the item with the bleach and water mixture.

If the surface of the item is rough, scrub the surface with a stiff

brush.

Rinse the item with clean water.

Dry the item or leave it out to dry.