Courthouse air quality fixes will soon be finished

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Courthouse air quality fixes will soon be finished

Six of nine fixes completed, others to be finished soon

ChronicleHerald.ca - Halifax,Nova Scotia,Canada

By MONICA GRAHAM

http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/833519.html

NEW GLASGOW — Six of nine recommendations to improve air quality in

a New Glasgow courthouse have been implemented, a Justice Department

spokeswoman said Friday.

MacIsaac said that leaves the replacement of carpets damaged

in a 2006 sewage backup and implementation of recommendations in a

January consulting report to eliminate mould in a crawl space under

the leased Bridgeview Square facility.

The flooring will be replaced during the Day weekend and

plans are being developed to address the mould problem, she said.

It can't be soon enough for courthouse employees, who have suffered

a variety of symptoms attributed to air quality. Nausea, headaches,

eye and nose irritations, asthma and other breathing problems have

been reported among provincial and family court staff, in the

sheriff's department and at the Crown attorney's office.

Family court has moved to Pictou and any employees who are adversely

affected by the air quality can also move there, Ms. MacIsaac said.

Staff has not been told to keep quiet about the issue, she added, a

statement reiterated by district court administrator Jim Hahnen.

But employees wouldn't speak publicly about the problem, saying

they'd been urged to be silent and let the Justice Department handle

it.

" No one wants to be the one to blow the whistle, " said a staffer who

requested anonymity.

Some longtime workers at the site experienced severe breathing

problems, fungal-related diseases and autoimmune disorders they

blame on mould, the employee said. Some refuse to work in the

building but many are reluctant to leave jobs they otherwise love,

the employee said.

The consulting report by Pinchin LeBlanc Environmental of Dartmouth

cites raised levels of three fungi in the dirt crawl space under the

courthouse. The report said airborne mould concentrations in

courtrooms and offices are lower than those outside the building,

which is near the East River, a steel plant, parking lots and the

business district.

It noted that Health Canada considers indoor mould unhealthy, posing

a risk of " allergic, irritant, infective and possibly toxic

responses in some occupants, " and that those affected " should not

return to the environment until remediation and air testing are

completed. "

" I'm concerned that staff are getting sick, " said Mr. Hahnen, adding

efforts are underway to address the mould.

The report recommends removing the top layer of soil from the crawl

space and covering it with a vapour barrier. Officials are

determining the best way to do that, Ms. MacIsaac said.

So far, the rooftop air-handling system has been adjusted and

humidity addressed; protocols developed to prevent prisoners from

shoving foreign objects down the toilets and to react to sewage

backups from clogged lines; windows are kept closed; exposed water-

stained wood studs have been cleaned or replaced; and the bottom

part of drywall damaged by last fall's sewage backup has been

replaced.

( mgraham@...)