Newlyweds chased from their home by mold, bacteria

[Guest guest]

Posted on Mon, Jan. 25, 2010

Newlyweds chased from their home by mold, bacteria

By Jan Hefler

Inquirer Staff Writer

Philadelphia Inquirer

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/82575052.html

After a honeymoon in Mexico, le and Beety returned to their dream

home, a $407,000 yellow stucco on a cul-de-sac in Gloucester County. Their

future seemed golden.

" We were on cloud nine, " said le Beety, a first-grade teacher who also

coached high school field hockey. " Everything was going completely great, " added

Beety, a mortgage loan originator.

That lasted two weeks.

Suddenly, le Beety was stricken with severe throat pain and developed

flulike symptoms. Her baffled doctors ordered myriad tests. Three times they

admitted her to Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. She

required two operations to remove a 5-centimeter abscess inside her neck.

" It was like living a live episode of House, " Beety said, referring to the

Fox TV show in which the eccentric Dr. House diagnoses mystery illnesses. Each

time le Beety returned to their home on Shira Court in Paradise Homes in

West Deptford, her fever returned. Her neck would stiffen with such pain she

would cry out when she moved.

Their house emerged as a suspect when they received an urgent phone call from an

environmental engineer who did air and wipe testing in their leaky basement.

Stocknoff, owner of A & M Engineering Services in Cherry Hill, reported

that he had found elevated levels of mold and gram-negative bacteria - a

resistant group of superbugs that can cause respiratory and other ailments. He

said they should grab their dog and move out immediately. Doctors seconded the

advice.

That was nearly a year ago. The couple moved in with le Beety's parents,

leaving all their belongings behind. Her health quickly improved, but now the

couple struggle to pay mounting bills and to replace their possessions.

Last week, the Beetys received notice from PHH Mortgage/ Schwab that

foreclosure on their vacant house would begin next month. Beety said that

could jeopardize his license and job, under new regulations on lenders, plunging

them into deeper debt.

Paradise Realty Group L.L.C., the Lakewood, N.J., builder, disputes that the

house caused the illness. The company has built seven other homes on the court

and says it has received no other complaints.

Chin S. Yang, an internationally known microbiologist with Prestige

EnviroMicrobiology laboratory in Voorhees, sees a link between the housing boom

and an uptick in environmental-health issues similar to what the Beetys

described.

Though he has not examined their house, Yang said he had been involved in

numerous " sick building syndrome " and similar cases across the country in which

he found toxic bacteria and mold to be a trigger of health problems, including

homes contaminated as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

" When the housing market was hot, everyone was in a rush to finish a house and

go on to the next, " Yang said. Workmanship suffered, he said, and construction

defects allowed moisture to creep inside and create a petri dish for mold and

bacteria.

" By the time the homeowner finds out, the house may have been leaking for

months, " Yang said.

Susceptible people, including those with compromised immune systems, breathe

bacteria, mold, and the endotoxins the bacteria give off and may develop flulike

symptoms, infections, and other problems, he said. Other occupants may not be

affected.

Yang said the Beetys' story was one of the more horrific he had heard because of

the operations and was relatively rare.

The Environmental Protection Agency says indoor pollution may be as much as 100

times more contaminated than outdoor air. There is increasing awareness of the

issue, the EPA says, but no federal standards have been established.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise the public to

contact local health departments for help. In New Jersey, the local, county, and

state health bureaucracies point to one another as the responsible party and

insist their role is limited to providing information.

Deborah Sellitto, Gloucester County spokeswoman, said the Health Department did

not inspect private residences. Homeowners should hire a private inspector and

correct the problem, she said.

, a prominent Hopewell, N.J., industrial hygienist, said home

inspectors had begun routinely checking for mold only about five years ago. The

key is to correct the problem early and completely. In the worst cases, he said,

including foreclosures, demolition may be required because of hidden and

pervasive mold and bacteria growth.

West Deptford Administrator Campo said he was surprised to learn of the

condition of the Beety home. The town never received any complaints, he said,

and once a certificate of occupancy is issued, the matter becomes " a private

property issue " between builder and homeowner. Campo also said the county Health

Department handled the town's health concerns.

Mark Hallahan, the town's building subcode official, who is responsible for

making sure new construction on Shira Court is sound, did not return requests

for comment.

Beety said he had noticed wet walls and puddles in their unfinished

basement soon after they moved into the house in the summer of 2008. He alerted

Paradise Homes.

Over the next few months, he said, the front yard was dug up six times - twice

to fix a broken sewer pipe, three times to repair broken water lines, and once

to mend a crack in the foundation. He said that the developer also had tried to

clean surface mold with bleach, but that it had recurred and spread.

Finally, Beety said, the developer promised to buy back the house. But

when that did not happen, the couple sued in August, citing Paradise and unknown

Does for breach of contract and fraud.

Beety said he did not know where to turn. His homeowners' insurance

company denied claims, saying the leaks were caused by groundwater; the building

inspector told him that the town could not help; and his mortgage company

threatened foreclosure, he said.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory damages and cites poor workmanship,

evidenced by numerous cracks in the walls and other signs. It also says Paradise

failed to " eliminate a hazardous condition, " the persistent water infiltration,

that led to le Beety's medical problems.

" We take the charges very seriously, " said Rothenberg, the developer and

owner of Paradise Homes. He builds mostly in central New Jersey and has been in

business 10 years, he said.

Rothenberg plans to dispute in court that the house caused le Beety's

illness. " We feel some of the charges are unfounded, " he said.

Eighteen homes were planned in the subdivision, just off Parkville Station Road,

but only eight have been built. Neighbors said they knew nothing of the house at

the end of the court, and so far had not had wet basements or health issues.

" This was kept quiet, " said J. Abate Sr., who was stunned to hear about

the house next to his. He planned to check with the town inspector to make sure

his home does not have similar issues.

le Beety, 28, a jogger, collegiate field hockey star, and multisport high

school athlete, said she had never suffered from any serious health problems or

allergies before. When she became sick, doctors diagnosed bronchitis, various

respiratory illnesses, and then the abscess.

" I didn't know what was wrong with me, " said le Beety, noting a persistent

rash also appeared on her face.

Ted Passon, director of Pure Earth Environmental Lab in Pennsauken, said that

wipe samples from her basement showed three million colony-forming units of

gram-negative bacteria per square inch, which he said greatly exceeded safety

guidelines. Airborne bacteria and mold counts also were elevated, he said.

After reviewing Passon's report, doctors recommended le Beety stay out of

the house.

The Beetys left everything behind, as the environmental engineer advised.

le Beety was heartsick about giving up her wedding pictures, her childhood

mementos, and other possessions, but she did not want to risk another bout of

illness.

A day and a half after le Beety left, her rash disappeared. Her

hospitalizations ended, though she has lingering asthma and respiratory

problems.

Now four months pregnant and living in a Mantua townhouse, le Beety wants

to put this chapter behind her and is looking to the future again.

But she shook her head at the memory of their ordeal. " We thought we were doing

everything right. We went to college, bought a house, and were just coming back

from our honeymoon, " she said. " And then this just hit us. We lost everything. "

More information on mold prevention and cleanup can be found at

http://epa.gov/mold

Contact staff writer Jan Hefler at 856-779-3224 or jhefler@....

[Guest guest]

Thanks KC, pretty interesting post. what happened to her is pretty interesting.

in my first house I had inflammation in by back, it was painful as heck, went up

my back, radiated out my arms and legs and along with that,

numbness,weakness,spasms,ect. it started in my lower back quite quickly maybe

because I was having problems in my left hip from work injury, but it made its

way all the way up my back to my neck pretty much even with the top of my

shoulders. it was so painful, my whole back side was just killing me,it hurt to

have it rubbed,even the back of my legs.

but what it takes for inflammation to go to the brain and infection to go to the

brain must be two different things.

because it never got to point of doing what the second house did which really

could only be termed as meningitis. meningitis is a infection, not just

inflammation.

I have a pretty strong felling that the differences in my two homes could

explain that. the first one being a wet/dry process with roof leaks and the

second home with a very bad more constant, or constant while I lived there,water

and humidity problem. bacteria!

even the smell was different in these homes, the first one being a dry dirt

earthy smell and the second home was a wet musty moldy mildewy rotten smell.

after getting away from both, and than getting around them again, it was the

second home that the smell would cause what I now know as chemical sensitivity

reactions, lungs closeing up,

and how the rest of my body and brain reacts.

and the first home just doesn't cause the same reaction, it's more of a burning

with each breath that says hey, I'm sneaky about getting in your body and doing

my damage. it burns in the lungs but it's different than the effect of the

instant coughing and airways closing up that I get with chemical sensitivity

assults.

now I know theres a whole lot of differences in exposures as far as what going

on in these houses. both of mine seem to be two extremes at each end of the line

and what could happen inbetween.

or maybe they actually are signiture of either/or as a norm of WDB's

and there really is not much of a inbetween there.

are people either getting exposed to mold and myco's or mold and bacteria's ?

even differences in room to room,maybe more so in a big house with several

floors instead of one level. roof leaks or leaks that dry than leak again vs.

water invasion under house or water leaks in a one level house that run to the

ground under the house and dont dry out.

>

> Posted on Mon, Jan. 25, 2010

>

>

> Newlyweds chased from their home by mold, bacteria

> By Jan Hefler

>

> Inquirer Staff Writer

> Philadelphia Inquirer

>

> http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/82575052.html

>

> After a honeymoon in Mexico, le and Beety returned to their dream

home, a $407,000 yellow stucco on a cul-de-sac in Gloucester County. Their

future seemed golden.

>

> " We were on cloud nine, " said le Beety, a first-grade teacher who also

coached high school field hockey. " Everything was going completely great, " added

Beety, a mortgage loan originator.

>

> That lasted two weeks.

>

> Suddenly, le Beety was stricken with severe throat pain and developed

flulike symptoms. Her baffled doctors ordered myriad tests. Three times they

admitted her to Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. She

required two operations to remove a 5-centimeter abscess inside her neck.

>

> " It was like living a live episode of House, " Beety said, referring to

the Fox TV show in which the eccentric Dr. House diagnoses mystery illnesses.

Each time le Beety returned to their home on Shira Court in Paradise Homes

in West Deptford, her fever returned. Her neck would stiffen with such pain she

would cry out when she moved.

>

> Their house emerged as a suspect when they received an urgent phone call from

an environmental engineer who did air and wipe testing in their leaky basement.

>

> Stocknoff, owner of A & M Engineering Services in Cherry Hill, reported

that he had found elevated levels of mold and gram-negative bacteria - a

resistant group of superbugs that can cause respiratory and other ailments. He

said they should grab their dog and move out immediately. Doctors seconded the

advice.

>

> That was nearly a year ago. The couple moved in with le Beety's parents,

leaving all their belongings behind. Her health quickly improved, but now the

couple struggle to pay mounting bills and to replace their possessions.

>

> Last week, the Beetys received notice from PHH Mortgage/ Schwab that

foreclosure on their vacant house would begin next month. Beety said that

could jeopardize his license and job, under new regulations on lenders, plunging

them into deeper debt.

>

> Paradise Realty Group L.L.C., the Lakewood, N.J., builder, disputes that the

house caused the illness. The company has built seven other homes on the court

and says it has received no other complaints.

>

> Chin S. Yang, an internationally known microbiologist with Prestige

EnviroMicrobiology laboratory in Voorhees, sees a link between the housing boom

and an uptick in environmental-health issues similar to what the Beetys

described.

>

> Though he has not examined their house, Yang said he had been involved in

numerous " sick building syndrome " and similar cases across the country in which

he found toxic bacteria and mold to be a trigger of health problems, including

homes contaminated as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

>

> " When the housing market was hot, everyone was in a rush to finish a house and

go on to the next, " Yang said. Workmanship suffered, he said, and construction

defects allowed moisture to creep inside and create a petri dish for mold and

bacteria.

>

> " By the time the homeowner finds out, the house may have been leaking for

months, " Yang said.

>

> Susceptible people, including those with compromised immune systems, breathe

bacteria, mold, and the endotoxins the bacteria give off and may develop flulike

symptoms, infections, and other problems, he said. Other occupants may not be

affected.

>

> Yang said the Beetys' story was one of the more horrific he had heard because

of the operations and was relatively rare.

>

> The Environmental Protection Agency says indoor pollution may be as much as

100 times more contaminated than outdoor air. There is increasing awareness of

the issue, the EPA says, but no federal standards have been established.

>

> The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise the public to

contact local health departments for help. In New Jersey, the local, county, and

state health bureaucracies point to one another as the responsible party and

insist their role is limited to providing information.

>

> Deborah Sellitto, Gloucester County spokeswoman, said the Health Department

did not inspect private residences. Homeowners should hire a private inspector

and correct the problem, she said.

>

> , a prominent Hopewell, N.J., industrial hygienist, said home

inspectors had begun routinely checking for mold only about five years ago. The

key is to correct the problem early and completely. In the worst cases, he said,

including foreclosures, demolition may be required because of hidden and

pervasive mold and bacteria growth.

>

> West Deptford Administrator Campo said he was surprised to learn of the

condition of the Beety home. The town never received any complaints, he said,

and once a certificate of occupancy is issued, the matter becomes " a private

property issue " between builder and homeowner. Campo also said the county Health

Department handled the town's health concerns.

>

> Mark Hallahan, the town's building subcode official, who is responsible for

making sure new construction on Shira Court is sound, did not return requests

for comment.

>

> Beety said he had noticed wet walls and puddles in their unfinished

basement soon after they moved into the house in the summer of 2008. He alerted

Paradise Homes.

>

> Over the next few months, he said, the front yard was dug up six times - twice

to fix a broken sewer pipe, three times to repair broken water lines, and once

to mend a crack in the foundation. He said that the developer also had tried to

clean surface mold with bleach, but that it had recurred and spread.

>

> Finally, Beety said, the developer promised to buy back the house. But

when that did not happen, the couple sued in August, citing Paradise and unknown

Does for breach of contract and fraud.

>

> Beety said he did not know where to turn. His homeowners' insurance

company denied claims, saying the leaks were caused by groundwater; the building

inspector told him that the town could not help; and his mortgage company

threatened foreclosure, he said.

>

> The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory damages and cites poor workmanship,

evidenced by numerous cracks in the walls and other signs. It also says Paradise

failed to " eliminate a hazardous condition, " the persistent water infiltration,

that led to le Beety's medical problems.

>

> " We take the charges very seriously, " said Rothenberg, the developer

and owner of Paradise Homes. He builds mostly in central New Jersey and has been

in business 10 years, he said.

>

> Rothenberg plans to dispute in court that the house caused le Beety's

illness. " We feel some of the charges are unfounded, " he said.

>

> Eighteen homes were planned in the subdivision, just off Parkville Station

Road, but only eight have been built. Neighbors said they knew nothing of the

house at the end of the court, and so far had not had wet basements or health

issues.

>

> " This was kept quiet, " said J. Abate Sr., who was stunned to hear about

the house next to his. He planned to check with the town inspector to make sure

his home does not have similar issues.

>

> le Beety, 28, a jogger, collegiate field hockey star, and multisport

high school athlete, said she had never suffered from any serious health

problems or allergies before. When she became sick, doctors diagnosed

bronchitis, various respiratory illnesses, and then the abscess.

>

> " I didn't know what was wrong with me, " said le Beety, noting a

persistent rash also appeared on her face.

>

> Ted Passon, director of Pure Earth Environmental Lab in Pennsauken, said that

wipe samples from her basement showed three million colony-forming units of

gram-negative bacteria per square inch, which he said greatly exceeded safety

guidelines. Airborne bacteria and mold counts also were elevated, he said.

>

> After reviewing Passon's report, doctors recommended le Beety stay out

of the house.

>

> The Beetys left everything behind, as the environmental engineer advised.

le Beety was heartsick about giving up her wedding pictures, her childhood

mementos, and other possessions, but she did not want to risk another bout of

illness.

>

> A day and a half after le Beety left, her rash disappeared. Her

hospitalizations ended, though she has lingering asthma and respiratory

problems.

>

> Now four months pregnant and living in a Mantua townhouse, le Beety

wants to put this chapter behind her and is looking to the future again.

>

> But she shook her head at the memory of their ordeal. " We thought we were

doing everything right. We went to college, bought a house, and were just coming

back from our honeymoon, " she said. " And then this just hit us. We lost

everything. "

>

> More information on mold prevention and cleanup can be found at

http://epa.gov/mold

>

>

> Contact staff writer Jan Hefler at 856-779-3224 or jhefler@...

>