Mold has workers wondering about health

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Mold has workers wondering about health

Westland Observer*

By Darrell Clem • OBSERVER STAFF WRITER • July 27, 2008

Westland city employees confirmed late Friday afternoon that they

and their co-workers complained years ago that they feared they

could be getting sick from environmental conditions inside City Hall.

Sometimes, they just grumbled among themselves. Sometimes, they

said, they raised concerns during work-safety meetings with

administration officials.

Employees said the response was always the same: Nothing was ever

done.

Now, they said they're alarmed - but not surprised - to learn that

mold has been found in several rooms in the basement - a damp area

that, until late in the week, housed employee lounges and a city

mail room.

After learning of the mold problem due to recent flooding caused by

a severed water line, Mayor Wild has moved quickly to hire a

company to work on the weekend of Aug. 9-10 to take out the mold,

sanitize the area and clean out the air ducts.

In the meantime, he said, " we haven't been given any indication that

we need to move employees out of the building. "

Jon Dattilo, president of I.A.Q. Management Services Inc., an indoor

environmental testing company that investigated the problem,

confirmed Friday afternoon that he would not recommend the

evacuation of City Hall at this point.

However, he confirmed that Stachybotrys, one of several molds found

during environmental testing in the basement, is what is commonly

referred to as " black mold. " He said it was " quite localized in two

areas " and was not found in the air.

Other mold, such as Penicillium/Aspergillus, was found in the air in

several basement areas, but it also is found in outdoor air, Dattilo

said. It's possible the mold could have spread through the air duct

system, he said, but " we cannot tell at this point. "

Employees didn't want their names used because they still work for

the city. But they said they and their co-workers have had recurring

headaches, flu-like symptoms, sinus infections and upper respiratory

problems over the years.

They acknowledged they can't say with certainty that City Hall

conditions caused their problems, but they wonder. They said workers

for years have talked about the way the building, particularly the

basement, smelled.

Weaver, a representative for Livonia-based Belfor Property

Restoration, which was called in to respond to the flooding earlier

this month, said some people are more sensitive to mold than others,

and health threats can vary greatly.

Westland City Council President Godbout indicated that workers

have never brought potential health problems to his attention.

" It hasn't adversely affected anybody that we're aware of at this

point, " he said early Friday afternoon, " and we're addressing it as

expediently as possible. "

The mayor confirmed that an alternate employee break room has been

set up on the second floor of City Hall. He also said the mail room

has been relocated to the first-floor finance department.

Dattilo said he has " no basis to be concerned " at this point about

employees and citizens using the upper floors of City Hall. When

asked if employees who used the basement for years might have

suffered any ill effects, Dattilo said, " it is possible, but I would

defer to a physician. "

City officials are expected to spend nearly $40,000 to have the

4,000-square-foot basement cleaned up.

" Now that we realize the problem, " Wild said, " we are going to take

care of it. "

But he conceded that the basement has had numerous leaks over the

years that could cause recurring problems. He said his

administration will need to examine long-term solutions for City

Hall, built in 1964, and for other city buildings that are nearly as

old.

To complicate the issue, city buildings are aging and having

problems at a time when Westland - like many Michigan cities - is

cutting expenses amid tough economic times.

Mayor , who left office nearly seven years ago, had

earlier proposed building a new City Hall, possibly near the

Westland public library. But he never gained the support he needed

for the project.

dclem@... | (734) 953-2110