It's so old, it's got mold

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It's so old, it's got mold

Courthouse basement vacated after inspection

Wise County Messenger,Decatur, Texas*

Published Sunday, September 2, 2007

By Skip Nichols

http://www.wcmessenger.com/news/news/EEllZuykVuNSdZZnNI.php

Another problem has surfaced in the basement of the Wise County

Courthouse in Decatur.

It's mold.

A report by an environmental service found high levels of mold in

two areas of the underground level of the structure.

At least three county workers - two investigators for District

Attorney Jana and an investigator for County Attorney Greg

Lowery - have been moved out of offices in the basement because of

the contamination.

" We're going to have to do something, " said county Judge Bill

McElhaney in a phone conversation Friday. " We are going to meet with

the environmental inspector who found the mold on two different

occasions. "

McElhaney said he wanted the inspector, E. Otto, of Icon

Environmental and Inspection Services in Argyle to meet with

commissioners and other officials to discuss solutions to the mold

problem.

In his report, Otto noted mold counts of more than 400,000 in the

basement office of the county attorney investigator. The primary

contaminants were Penicillium and Aspergillus, which pose health

hazards and produce toxins, according to sources.

The district attorney investigators' office had mold counts in

excess of 4,300. Again, Penicillium and Aspergillus accounted for

most of the contamination.

By comparison, the mold counts in the shredder room in the basement

was only 268. Outside the building, the report noted, mold counts

were 14,000 on one occasion and 3,500 on another day.

" My first question to Mr. Otto was 'Should I put up yellow tape and

condemn it?' " McElhaney said after he read the report in early

August. " He said no, but it needs to be addressed. I asked him if

there was an imminent danger and he said no, it's typical of an old

building. However, he did recommend that we move everybody out who

is constantly down there. "

The investigators are now using an office on the first floor that

houses records for the district clerk.

Otto said in his report that " the site owner should consider

relocating staff from basement areas due to on-going water

intrusions, mold growth, mold concentrations in the air, water

damage ... also file storage should be moved to prevent further

damage. "

" It looks like it will be a several month project, " McElhaney

explained. " In a way, the timing is good. Since we are working on

the budget, we've set aside some money for rent to store records and

also to do something about the mold. "

The highly-toxic black mold - Stachybotrys - was found in two

storage areas in relatively small amounts, the report indicated.

The report also showed mold counts on the first, second and third

floors.

The county judge's office had a count of 266 and the district

clerk's office had a count of 96. Both are on the first floor.

On the second floor, the district courtroom had a count of 1,198 and

a conference room had a count of 292.

The conference room on the third floor had a count of 146 and the

county court-at-law court had a count of 72.