Toxic Mold growth on Marijuana Blamed for Police Station contamination

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Huntley cops to move out because of mold at station

By Jeff Long

Tribune staff reporter

Published February 19, 2002

The mold that has spread through the Huntley police station and chased the

department away may have started in the evidence room, growing in a bag of

marijuana, police say.

Although no one has gotten sick, tests that came back in January showed the

old station on Dundee Road has widespread mold contamination, including a

variety growing in the evidence room that is often referred to as toxic

mold, stachybotrys.

The cost of decontaminating the building was so high--estimated at

$200,000--that Huntley decided to give up on the building altogether. It is

leasing space for the Police Department at $68,000 a year until a new

Village Hall is completed in about three years. The department's 23 officers

and staff will move Wednesday to temporary quarters on Court.

" It apparently has something to do with the cannabis--the marijuana we store

in there, " Deputy Chief Ciombor said. " That has a tendency to develop

mold on it. And when you put that in a plastic bag and keep it in a dark

place, it grows. "

Since the station's mold problem was discovered last fall, the department

has been keeping its marijuana evidence in paper wrapping instead of plastic

baggies, Ciombor said.

Though marijuana is suspected of being the source of the potentially

dangerous form of mold, it was not the only source of mold in the building,

which the village bought for $170,545 in 1993. Moisture helped other species

of mold grow in two interview rooms, an arrest room and on the windowsill of

the chief's office.

The concentrations of mold--even in the evidence room, where the problem was

the worst--have been " far below " the amount that has been suspected of

causing problems elsewhere, according to an expert the village consulted

about the problem.

Still, with concerns about mold and " sick building syndrome " gaining

attention nationwide, village officials decided it best to move the

department now rather than wait until the new station is ready. Officials

haven't decided what to do with the old building, though they say it

probably will be torn down.

" I think they're being very proactive, " said Fletcher, the specialist

consulted by the village. " They're not burying their heads in the sand. "

Fletcher, director of occupational and preventive medicine at the University

of Illinois College of Medicine, reviewed the test results before

recommending that police and staff " avoid occupancy of the evidence room

because of the presence of the stachybotrys fungi. "

He plans to visit Huntley on Thursday for a closer look at the old station

and to discuss with police and staff the health problems sometimes

associated with mold.

In the past few years " toxic mold " --a popular term, not a medical one--has

caused some families across the country to flee their homes. It closed

schools, including St. East High School in Kane County, where an $11

million cleanup is under way. Nationwide, mold has sparked lawsuits that

snared millions of dollars.

" There's been a lot of debate about what amounts of mold cause harm to

humans, " Fletcher said.

Experts said links between the toxins produced by some species of mold and

various maladies often attributed to them haven't been proven. Things such

as memory loss and pulmonary hemorrhage have been blamed on mold, but no

scientific evidence has been found to prove a link. There is no test to

reveal mold toxins in a person's system, which makes it difficult to show

connections between the toxins and specific illnesses.

Nevertheless, mold has been shown to cause respiratory problems, and experts

say people with asthma may be forced out of buildings where mold growth is

excessive. Fletcher said molds pose the biggest threat to people with

weakened immune systems.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has not set standards for

acceptable amounts of molds. That makes it difficult for anyone to know when

mold is a problem or whether razing a building where mold is growing is

necessary. " We haven't overreacted, " Huntley Village Manager Carl Tomaso

said.

Copyright © 2002, Chicago Tribune