Re: Mold at BPD D sparks cancer fears

[Guest guest]

http://artvoice.com/issues/v9n11/cover_story

Cover Story What's Black & Blue and All Covered Up?

by Buck Quigley

Sick cops get brush off from the city

When some police officers were talking among themselves at Buffalo's D District

last year, conversation turned to the number of people getting sick at work.

Soon, they started ticking off names of co-workers who'd become ill with things

ranging from bronchitis to cancer. They quickly arrived at more than a dozen

names—roughly 10 percent of the people who worked there.

It seemed like a lot of people. So many, in fact, that a few of the officers

began to suspect that it might have something to do with their place of work.

For years, the D, or Delta, District was housed in a single-story brick building

at 669 Hertel Avenue, just west of Elmwood. Might those discolored ceiling tiles

be a telltale sign of something more sinister than condensation or a leaky roof?

What about that water in the basement that at times could reach a depth of a few

feet?

On January 14, an anonymous officer filed a complaint through the Public

Employee Safety and Health Bureau (PESH) of the New York State Department of

Labor, asking the agency to look into possible problems at the worksite. (The

complaint forms include a section for the filer to request that his or her

identity be withheld from his or her employer, due to the fact that reprisal

from the boss is a real threat whistleblowers face.)

In response, the City of Buffalo contacted Leader Professional Services, Inc., a

company the city keeps on retainer to perform environmental assessments. On

January 29, Hornung in the city's Division of Public Works spoke on the

phone with Keller of Leader, and they ironed out the scope of the

testing—which locations in the building were to be tested, and what they would

be testing for.

On February 1, Leader submitted its proposal/contract. On February 9, Keller

arrived at the station and did a walk-through with Hornung to identify sampling

locations. He then began the testing, but not before noting that another

contractor, Indoor Air Pro, was there also. Indoor Air Pro had been cleaning out

the air ducts—before the air quality samples were taken.

" What happened was we filed a complaint with the city about the condition of the

building, " says Lt. O'Brien, who chairs the Health and Safety Committee of

the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association. " And what they immediately did was

hire Indoor Air Professionals to go out and clean the ducts. Indoor Air are the

ones who told them: `You've got a problem here with mold.' The air vents were

totally clogged. "

On Friday, February 12, based on preliminary findings, officers at D District

were told they were being moved out of the building. " The main issues were mold

in the walls and ceiling, " O'Brien says. " They said the testing would take two to

four weeks. Then I was told by city attorney Diane O'Gorman that all information

pertaining to D District on the subject of mold would not be subject to Freedom

of Information legislation because it's a pending investigation. "

Independent (and unauthorized) testing

Because there's no great trust between the police union and the Brown

administration, the PBA contacted Great Lakes Environmental & Safety

Consultants, Inc., and scheduled a study of their own to take place in the

building at 11am on February 24. The PBA sent a letter to interim police

commissioner Derenda notifying him of this appointment, and received a

two-line fax back on the same day from the city's interim corporation counsel,

. It read: " The City is still awaiting final reports on tests

conducted at the above listed sight. We are not in a position to allow access to

the subject premises in light of our ongoing investigation and testing. Please

submit all future requests for access to this office. "

On February 24, the PBA sent an official notice to the mayor, copying ,

Derenda, and the New York State Department of Labor, demanding full reports on

the testing being done at 669 Hertel, citing OSHA rules. They also commenced

court action to fight the city's denial of access to the facility.

In the meantime, D District officers were moved to a temporary facility in

University Heights, three miles across town.

But, perhaps unbeknownst to City Hall, some of the displaced cops returned to

the Hertel Avenue building to perform some environmental testing of their own.

An Artvoice source says that some officers went in and collected samples

directly from places where the mold was most obvious, and sent the samples off

to labs in Canada, Florida, and Texas. The results came back in 48 to 72 hours,

and the samples tested at all three labs came back indicating lots and lots of

black mold.

The tests were done without permission, and those involved are concerned about

retaliation from their superiors. Since then, the city has changed the locks on

the doors at the precinct and deactivated the swipe cards officers use to get

in.

The city says the building is safe

Last Friday, March 12, a press conference was called in City Hall to announce

the " final air quality report on D District. " In essence, the two-page synopsis

said there was mold—including Stachybotrys or " black mold, " which can cause

severe health problems—but that there was nothing to worry about. City officials

said that the D District would be moved over to 205 Esser in Riverside, into

space rented from the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo for $4,500 a month in All

Saints Roman Catholic Church Society. The cops will share space with the Boys &

Girls Club and other parish organizations.

The city has budgeted $300,000 for testing and remediation of the D District

building. The rent to the diocese is extra.

Although the full study wasn't immediately released to the media, mayoral

spokesman Cutler indicated that a copy had been sent to the PBA.

said that the law department was deciding whether or not the information could

be released to the media, pursuant to FOIL. Perhaps by Monday, reporters were

told, they would have an answer to that. Mayor Byron Brown also said the PBA was

welcome to conduct their own environmental tests, and the following Monday they

city made the full study public.

At the press conference I asked if the air vents had been cleaned prior to

testing. At first I was told no. But by the time I got back to the office, an

email had arrived from Cutler indicating that they were, but that " it wouldn't

make any difference because (1) the air is drawn into the building, not out; and

(2) the subsequent testing by Leader indicated that there was no evidence of

harmful airborne materials from the areas they tested. " I was told to call

Keller at Leader if I had further questions.

I did. Keller did not explain why the direction the air is drawn through the

filters has any bearing on the question of whether cleaning the ducts and

replacing the filters might have affected the results of an air quality test.

But he helped fill in some blanks in the timeline. He also pointed me toward

Indoor Air Pro, the company that cleaned out the vents. When I called out to

their Lancaster office, CEO Gordon told me that the city told him not to

talk to the press. " We've been specifically asked not to talk to the media, " he

said. He gave me the name and phone number of Joe Schollard, Principal Chief

Stationary Engineer with the city, who would be handling all such inquiries.

I called Schollard and left a message, asking him to call me regarding the D

District. He didn't call back, but when I called back the next day, he had a

ready response to my inquiry. " Actually, they've put it with the law department

now. It's with . So you have to talk to him, " he said.

has not returned phone calls.

On Wednesday morning, I spoke to North District Councilman Joe Golombek, who was

instrumental in lining up the lease for the precinct at All Saints. I told him

what I'd learned, and pointed out that the police are rightfully ticked off that

this whole thing has been handled in a clandestine way. Golombek called back and

explained that he was able to reach Cutler, and that the law department was

preparing to send papers over to the PBA formalizing an agreement to allow them

their own independent testing of the property.

There is some reason to think that all of the tests run so far may ultimately be

inconclusive. According to a client service representative at Galson

Laboratories, where Leader sent some of the D District air samples for testing,

it's not a good idea to clean the air ducts before you test: " I wouldn't touch a

thing, because you want to get a representation of the way conditions were

before anything was done, " a representative told me. " In my opinion, if you want

to get a snapshot of what's occurring within an office building, just sample the

way it is. "

As a result of cleaning out the air vents and changing the air filters before

the air quailty tests were performed, the city may have ruined any chance of

determining precisely what the officers had been exposed to.

Sadly we should also note the passing of Police Officer Sadlocha, on

Tuesday, March 16. Sadlocha, 53 years old, had been a longtime cop at D District

who'd been battling cancer in recent years. He went into the hospital last week,

developed pneumonia, and died.

Read more:

http://artvoice.com/issues/v9n11/cover_story#SlideFrame_1#ixzz0iaIkCLu2

[Guest guest]

Hi

This is so typical and happens in school districts all the time. I work for a

large district in MA and they do this when people get sick. They clean

everything bleach mold etc. They will not let anyone come in to test until they

get mold at acceptable levels. When the mold is at acceptable levels then they

let outside people come in. I am happy the cops took maters in to their own

hands. How do these testers sleep at night ? It is sick. I got sick in my

district so I can relate to this situation.

D

________________________________

From: toxsickniagara <toxsickniagara@...>

Sent: Thu, March 18, 2010 7:11:48 PM

Subject: [] Re: Mold at BPD " D " sparks cancer fears

 

http://artvoice. com/issues/ v9n11/cover_ story

Cover Story What's Black & Blue and All Covered Up?

by Buck Quigley

Sick cops get brush off from the city

When some police officers were talking among themselves at Buffalo's D District

last year, conversation turned to the number of people getting sick at work.

Soon, they started ticking off names of co-workers who'd become ill with things

ranging from bronchitis to cancer. They quickly arrived at more than a dozen

names—roughly 10 percent of the people who worked there.

It seemed like a lot of people. So many, in fact, that a few of the officers

began to suspect that it might have something to do with their place of work.

For years, the D, or Delta, District was housed in a single-story brick building

at 669 Hertel Avenue, just west of Elmwood. Might those discolored ceiling tiles

be a telltale sign of something more sinister than condensation or a leaky roof?

What about that water in the basement that at times could reach a depth of a few

feet?

On January 14, an anonymous officer filed a complaint through the Public

Employee Safety and Health Bureau (PESH) of the New York State Department of

Labor, asking the agency to look into possible problems at the worksite. (The

complaint forms include a section for the filer to request that his or her

identity be withheld from his or her employer, due to the fact that reprisal

from the boss is a real threat whistleblowers face.)

In response, the City of Buffalo contacted Leader Professional Services, Inc., a

company the city keeps on retainer to perform environmental assessments. On

January 29, Hornung in the city's Division of Public Works spoke on the

phone with Keller of Leader, and they ironed out the scope of the

testing—which locations in the building were to be tested, and what they would

be testing for.

On February 1, Leader submitted its proposal/contract. On February 9, Keller

arrived at the station and did a walk-through with Hornung to identify sampling

locations. He then began the testing, but not before noting that another

contractor, Indoor Air Pro, was there also. Indoor Air Pro had been cleaning out

the air ducts—before the air quality samples were taken.

" What happened was we filed a complaint with the city about the condition of the

building, " says Lt. O'Brien, who chairs the Health and Safety Committee of

the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association. " And what they immediately did was

hire Indoor Air Professionals to go out and clean the ducts. Indoor Air are the

ones who told them: `You've got a problem here with mold.' The air vents were

totally clogged. "

On Friday, February 12, based on preliminary findings, officers at D District

were told they were being moved out of the building. " The main issues were mold

in the walls and ceiling, " O'Brien says. " They said the testing would take two to

four weeks. Then I was told by city attorney Diane O'Gorman that all information

pertaining to D District on the subject of mold would not be subject to Freedom

of Information legislation because it's a pending investigation. "

Independent (and unauthorized) testing

Because there's no great trust between the police union and the Brown

administration, the PBA contacted Great Lakes Environmental & Safety

Consultants, Inc., and scheduled a study of their own to take place in the

building at 11am on February 24. The PBA sent a letter to interim police

commissioner Derenda notifying him of this appointment, and received a

two-line fax back on the same day from the city's interim corporation counsel,

. It read: " The City is still awaiting final reports on tests

conducted at the above listed sight. We are not in a position to allow access to

the subject premises in light of our ongoing investigation and testing. Please

submit all future requests for access to this office. "

On February 24, the PBA sent an official notice to the mayor, copying ,

Derenda, and the New York State Department of Labor, demanding full reports on

the testing being done at 669 Hertel, citing OSHA rules. They also commenced

court action to fight the city's denial of access to the facility.

In the meantime, D District officers were moved to a temporary facility in

University Heights, three miles across town.

But, perhaps unbeknownst to City Hall, some of the displaced cops returned to

the Hertel Avenue building to perform some environmental testing of their own.

An Artvoice source says that some officers went in and collected samples

directly from places where the mold was most obvious, and sent the samples off

to labs in Canada, Florida, and Texas. The results came back in 48 to 72 hours,

and the samples tested at all three labs came back indicating lots and lots of

black mold.

The tests were done without permission, and those involved are concerned about

retaliation from their superiors. Since then, the city has changed the locks on

the doors at the precinct and deactivated the swipe cards officers use to get

in.

The city says the building is safe

Last Friday, March 12, a press conference was called in City Hall to announce

the " final air quality report on D District. " In essence, the two-page synopsis

said there was mold—including Stachybotrys or " black mold, " which can cause

severe health problems—but that there was nothing to worry about. City

officials said that the D District would be moved over to 205 Esser in

Riverside, into space rented from the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo for $4,500 a

month in All Saints Roman Catholic Church Society. The cops will share space

with the Boys & Girls Club and other parish organizations.

The city has budgeted $300,000 for testing and remediation of the D District

building. The rent to the diocese is extra.

Although the full study wasn't immediately released to the media, mayoral

spokesman Cutler indicated that a copy had been sent to the PBA.

said that the law department was deciding whether or not the information could

be released to the media, pursuant to FOIL. Perhaps by Monday, reporters were

told, they would have an answer to that. Mayor Byron Brown also said the PBA was

welcome to conduct their own environmental tests, and the following Monday they

city made the full study public.

At the press conference I asked if the air vents had been cleaned prior to

testing. At first I was told no. But by the time I got back to the office, an

email had arrived from Cutler indicating that they were, but that " it wouldn't

make any difference because (1) the air is drawn into the building, not out; and

(2) the subsequent testing by Leader indicated that there was no evidence of

harmful airborne materials from the areas they tested. " I was told to call

Keller at Leader if I had further questions.

I did. Keller did not explain why the direction the air is drawn through the

filters has any bearing on the question of whether cleaning the ducts and

replacing the filters might have affected the results of an air quality test.

But he helped fill in some blanks in the timeline. He also pointed me toward

Indoor Air Pro, the company that cleaned out the vents. When I called out to

their Lancaster office, CEO Gordon told me that the city told him not to

talk to the press. " We've been specifically asked not to talk to the media, " he

said. He gave me the name and phone number of Joe Schollard, Principal Chief

Stationary Engineer with the city, who would be handling all such inquiries.

I called Schollard and left a message, asking him to call me regarding the D

District. He didn't call back, but when I called back the next day, he had a

ready response to my inquiry. " Actually, they've put it with the law department

now. It's with . So you have to talk to him, " he said.

has not returned phone calls.

On Wednesday morning, I spoke to North District Councilman Joe Golombek, who was

instrumental in lining up the lease for the precinct at All Saints. I told him

what I'd learned, and pointed out that the police are rightfully ticked off that

this whole thing has been handled in a clandestine way. Golombek called back and

explained that he was able to reach Cutler, and that the law department was

preparing to send papers over to the PBA formalizing an agreement to allow them

their own independent testing of the property.

There is some reason to think that all of the tests run so far may ultimately be

inconclusive. According to a client service representative at Galson

Laboratories, where Leader sent some of the D District air samples for testing,

it's not a good idea to clean the air ducts before you test: " I wouldn't touch a

thing, because you want to get a representation of the way conditions were

before anything was done, " a representative told me. " In my opinion, if you want

to get a snapshot of what's occurring within an office building, just sample the

way it is. "

As a result of cleaning out the air vents and changing the air filters before

the air quailty tests were performed, the city may have ruined any chance of

determining precisely what the officers had been exposed to.

Sadly we should also note the passing of Police Officer Sadlocha, on

Tuesday, March 16. Sadlocha, 53 years old, had been a longtime cop at D District

who'd been battling cancer in recent years. He went into the hospital last week,

developed pneumonia, and died.

Read more: http://artvoice. com/issues/ v9n11/cover_ story#SlideFrame

_1#ixzz0iaIkCLu2