Army tackling mold problems at Kaltenbrunn housing area

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Army tackling mold problems at Kaltenbrunn housing area

Stars and Stripes - Washington,DC

By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes

European edition, Wednesday, June 13, 2007

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104 & article=46653

GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — Grafenwöhr housing officials have promised to

fix mold problems that have sickened some 2nd Cavalry (Stryker)

Regiment soldiers and their family members in the Kaltenbrunn

housing area before the unit deploys to Iraq in August.

In a letter to residents last week, U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwöhr

housing manager Bob Arbios said: " The owners of Kaltenbrunn have

hired contractors to fix moisture/mold and other problems in

Kaltenbrunn units. "

Arbios said officials are taking strong precautions to make sure

repairs — by German firm TBG Umwelt — are carried out effectively

and in a way that protects residents. Initial repairs to each house

will take at least part of one day, but in most cases workers will

need to return later to allow for proper treatment and drying and to

enable families to have access to at least one of their bathrooms at

all times, he said.

" You will be able to remain in your home throughout the entire

process as workers will seal off impacted area, " he wrote.

The work will be primarily in bathrooms, attics and first-floor

heating rooms, he said.

Preventive medicine authorities have assured the garrison that

contamination levels for all of the undesirable substances found in

Kaltenbrunn units — including mold and metal dust — are very low and

that it would take a long time of direct exposure to the substances

to cause health problems for most people, he said.

" If you or your family members feel you may have been adversely

affected by the conditions in your home — whether before, during or

after the repairs are made — please contact your medical clinic for

an assessment, " Arbios wrote.

Hays, the U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwöhr director of public

works, said this week that the work is well under way.

" We want to get it done before the Stryker unit deploys and make

sure no one has to worry about that while they are deployed. If

problems do occur while they are deployed, we will be there to

assist with those problems, " he said.

Hays, along with representatives of the Installation Management

Agency and the German association that owns the houses toured the

Kaltenbrunn community Tuesday to inspect the mold-remediation

efforts.

Past inspections revealed that 10 out of 64 homes looked at

had " fairly significant " mold problems, while others had only minor

problems, he said.

" In one house it is very minor work. In another it is extensive

work. We had to go through and evaluate the seriousness on a case-by-

case basis, " Hays said.

A tour of a house recently vacated by a family showed work already

under way to deal with the problem in an upstairs shower room. Hays

said loose tiles in the shower had allowed water to seep into

downstairs areas where mold grew.

In the shower, tiles near the floor have been removed and the area

has been left open to dry for several days. Tiles along the top of

the shower room walls have also been removed.

In another bathroom upstairs, the same thing will be done. To

prevent the problem from recurring, electricians have connected

ventilator switches to lights in the bathrooms to make sure they

come on automatically when anyone turns on the light, Hays said.

Problems with toxic substances in attic beams also were discovered

during mold inspections. As a result, all of the attics in

Kaltenbrunn will be vacuumed to remove toxic substances and the

attics will be sealed and locked to stop the metals getting into

living areas, he said.

Hays said Kaltenbrunn is not the only off-post community that has

experienced mold problems, but it is the worst case he's seen.

" There have been mold problems over the years but not this

extensive, " he said.