Detroit Free Press: Westland City Hall and mold

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City Hall safer after mold cleaned, Westland mayor says

Closing building won't be necessary

BY DARREN CLEM • OBSERVER STAFF WRITER • August 31, 2008

Environmental experts have confirmed that airborne mold spores have been

found in several locations on the first and second floors of Westland City Hall

after migrating through the building's ventilation system from a leaky

basement.

But a third round of cleaning by property-restoration crews has made the

aging building safer, and no closing of City Hall is necessary, the mayor said.

" I think we've taken care of the problem at hand, " Mayor Wild said

last week.

Still, Wild conceded that city leaders will face difficult and potentially

costly decisions when they engage in talks this fall about the future of the

City Hall building, which was built in the mid-1960s, and other municipal

buildings.

" We'll be having some long, hard discussions on where we go from here on

City Hall, " the mayor said.

About 40 people work in the building on Ford Road east of Newburgh, and

dozens of residents and business owners enter the building daily. Some city

employees have questioned whether environmental conditions inside the building

may

have led to health problems such as recurring sinus infections, upper

respiratory problems and headaches.

Air-quality tests conducted Aug. 7 found 21 different kinds of mold spores,

including " nominal " or " very low " findings of fungus and " minor to moderate "

elevations of bacteria, said Jon Datillo, president of I.A.Q. Management

Services Inc. of Farmington Hills. Many of the same findings occur outdoors,

Datillo said. Still, he acknowledged that spores of Stachybotrys, commonly

referred to as black mold, were found in several locations in the latest round

of

air testing.

Wild's administration ordered the first and second floors of City Hall

examined after basement flooding in July led to findings of mold. Already, the

city has spent an estimated $55,000 to $60,000 to address the problem, and the

total cost isn't yet known.

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