Contamination at PVHS may be worse than first believed

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Contamination at PVHS may be worse than first believed

By HENRY BREAN, Managing Editor January 31, 2002

Other schools tested for mold

As construction workers in protective suits continue to tear up the inside

of Pahrump Valley High School in search of toxic mold, school district

officials are turning their attention to other Nye County schools that may

have suffered water damage in the past.

Environmental Health Services (EHS) of Las Vegas recently completed testing

at Hafen Elementary School and J.G. Elementary in Pahrump and at

Beatty High School. Samples were also taken in the modular classrooms now

being used at PVHS. None of the areas tested showed significant levels of

airborne mold spores.

That's the good news; the bad news is that the contamination at the high

school may be more extensive than originally thought.

During Wednesday night's public meeting on the mold situation, EHS President

McManus warned that it is still " very early in the investigation " and

it will take a few more days for workers to complete an inventory of

mold-infected areas at PVHS. He told the audience, however, that the main

building of the school would not be available in two or three weeks as

previously reported by the district. " It could be a couple more weeks (after

that) or it could be a couple months. We just don't know yet, " he said.

Meanwhile, more extensive tests are being considered for the district's 15

other schools, although testing for the presence of mold does have its

limitations, McManus said.

For example, samples taken in the central portion of PVHS in November were

essentially clean, with airborne mold spore levels lower than those found

outside. Two months later, though, high concentrations of the toxic mold

Stachybotrys chartarum were found growing in the walls of the school in two

areas damaged by water about four years ago.

During Wednesday night's public meeting on the mold situation, McManus told

audience members that reacting quickly and appropriately to water damage is

a far more effective way of fighting mold than is testing. In the case of

PVHS, the mold could not be seen until a maintenance worker pulled back a

section of baseboard. " A lot of these things are not necessarily visible, "

McManus said.

And because toxic mold is an emerging concern across the country - with

widely divergent opinions about its potential health effects - most people

do not know what to look for or even why they should be looking.

With that in mind, interim Supt. Rod Pekarek said Wednesday that the

district is launching " an aggressive training program " to educate custodians

and maintenance workers on water-damage and mold issues. Maintenance and

Operations Supervisor Don Brod is slated to take part in a " mold class " next

week, and he plans to use what he learns to train his staff.

In the meantime, Pekarek said the district " will continue to be very

vigilant " when it comes to testing schools, particularly in areas that

appear to have damaged by water leaks or flooding.

That's what lead to the recent tests at Beatty High School and J.G.

Elementary, Pekarek said. In BHS's case, there were water stains found

underneath bleachers in the gym; in the case of J.G. Elementary, it

was stains in a janitor's closet that prompted the testing.

Those tests proved negative, but additional mold concentrations have been

found at PVHS. McManus said a leaky roof drain is the apparent cause of mold

found this week behind the cabinets in the school's art room. Mold has also

been found behind lockers in the 600 wing at the west of the school, where a

water main broke about four years ago. But the heaviest concentrations

discovered so far are in the walls around the gym at the east end of the

school, which was soaked by floodwaters in September 1997.

" We're cutting holes in your school, " McManus said of the sampling by EHS

and the the cleanup work Valentine Construction. " We're cutting lots of

holes and we're tearing off your baseboards. "

Before the effected areas of school are deemed safe to occupy again, McManus

predicted that " a substantial amount of walls " will have to be taken down

and the sheet rock replaced.

Testing continues - and will continue both during and after the cleanup -

but he said the mold found to date appears to be contained to areas of

" historic water intrusion. " " Most of the contamination has stayed put, " he

said.

When contacted prior to Wednesday's meeting, McManus declined to say how

much he expects the cleanup effort to cost the district. " It's not going to

be inexpensive, " he said. " This sort of thing tends to be expensive to clean

up. "

©Pahrump Valley Times 2002