Fungus and mold found at school nothing serious, officials say

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Fungus and mold found at school nothing serious, officials say

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

The Record, NJ*

BY TERESA EDMOND

http://www.northjersey.com/news/northernnj/School_deemed_safe.html

SUBURBAN TRENDS

The first day of classes will be safe Thursday for Haskell School

students, Wanaque school officials say: Air samples taken from the

school show signs of harmless mold in a tunnel and one classroom -

nothing that they said would be deemed serious.

Tests of the damp tunnel beneath the school and three classrooms

above it found penicillium, a fungus found in many types of cheese,

Business Administrator ph said.

Two of the three classrooms were " generally clean, " said, but

aspergillus, a mold that grows on bread, was present in a third ..

" That classroom was described to us to have a very low concentration

of that fungus [aspergillus], equivalent to leaving a sandwich in

the classroom, " said.

To be sure, district officials are having the tunnel, three

classrooms and nearby areas tested again -- " an appropriate and

conservative course of action, " said. These results should be

available the middle of next week, he said.

The initial tests came after three workers fell sick while working

over the tunnel's pipes during ongoing renovations. The tunnel has

been underneath the Haskell School since the school was built in

1917.

The workers may contracted the cold-like symptoms in their chests

from a colleague who came to work sick, Schools Supt.

Weisenfeld previously said.

Officials nonetheless closed the tunnel area, although the

district's Trenton-based consultant, Environmental Remediation and

Management, believed there was no need to worry about the air

quality there.

Environmental Remediation and Management then collected and tested

the air samples.

Weisenfeld wrote to parents last week, noting that mold is

a " common " indoor and outdoor substance and that it doesn't pose a

health risk.

" It is common to have higher levels of mold in basements and crawl

spaces, due to humidity, " he wrote, " and this does not indicate a

health concern for our students and staff. "

Weisenfeld noted that district officials took safeguards by

employing a contractor to sterilize the tunnel, classrooms and other

affected spaces by this past Sunday.

The school was opened to personnel yesterday.

Edmond's e-mail address is edmond@....