LA Times Downey Studios THIS IS HUGE.

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_http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-downey2-2009aug02,0,5980999.story_

(http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-dow

ney2-2009aug02,0,5980999.story)

Mold, dust cited

By late 2004, film crews were at work inside Building 1, creating

futuristic sets for " The Island. " The former aerospace hangar was still being

renovated, and water leaked through the roof during that winter's torrential

rains. Standing water accumulated, and mold was visible on the walls, workers

recalled.

" In one of the rooms where we were shooting, there was this disgusting,

moldy smell, " recalled filmmaker Bay, director of " The Island. " " I

could just tell there was something in the air. "

Dust was also a nuisance. Just outside the building, crews were digging

trenches for electrical cables. Elsewhere on the site, grading was underway

for a shopping center and a hospital. Clouds of dust blew into the studio

building, film workers said.

Steve Basile, a 53-year-old prop maker from Castaic who spent two months

working on " The Island, " said he has suffered from shortness of breath,

peeling skin and other ailments ever since.

" Sometimes I wake up choking in the middle of the night, " he said.

Dr. Hyman, a board-certified internist and cardiologist, served as

an independent physician in Basile's workers' compensation case. After

examining Basile and reviewing his medical records, Hyman concluded in 2008

that working at Downey had aggravated his preexisting ear, nose and throat

problems.

Despite the finding, the insurer AIG denied Basile's workers' compensation

claim. He is appealing.

In response to workers' complaints, DreamWorks SKG, producer of " The

Island, " brought in an environmental consulting firm, Mintie Corp., to assess

the air quality in Building 1. In a memo to workers, DreamWorks said the

tests found mold but at levels that would not affect healthy individuals.

(DreamWorks executives declined to comment.)

That was small comfort to Mustoe, a welder who built sets for " The

Island. " He complained of flu symptoms that wouldn't go away and of

difficulty breathing.

Dr. Bruce Gillis, a medical toxicologist serving as an independent

physician in his workers' compensation case, found that Mustoe had been

permanently disabled by a fungal infection from mold at Downey.

Gillis said blood tests showed that Mustoe was exposed to the same mold

identified by Mintie Corp. in its air-quality tests.

" There is substantial medical evidence that 100% of this permanent

disability was caused by " working at Downey, Gillis wrote.

AIG refused to authorize treatment, citing the opinion of another doctor

who questioned the validity of the blood tests. Mustoe is appealing.

IRG has responded vigorously to adverse publicity over the workers'

claims. In 2005, it filed a libel suit against the International Alliance of

Theatrical Stage Employees, contending that the union scared away business by

falsely claiming in its newsletter that Downey Studios was unsafe.

The union and its insurer paid $775,000 to settle the case. As a condition

of the settlement, the union acknowledged that air-quality tests for mold

and asbestos found that Building 1 was a " clean and safe " environment.

Last August, Lichter filed another libel suit, this one against some of

the injured workers and activist Vickie , who has publicized their

complaints on a website. said the lawsuit, which is awaiting trial, was

" an attempt to intimidate me and to suppress our freedom of speech. "

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