Black mold invades Wellsville Salvation Army (Cattaraugus County, PA)

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Black mold invades Wellsville Salvation Army

By JOHN ANDERSON, The Times Herald March 26, 2002

WELLSVILLE - Parts of the Salvation Army will stay closed in Wellsville

after a report came back showing the building has high levels of a hazardous

black mold.

The 21-page testing report obtained by the Times Herald says the levels of

the black mold stachybotrys at the site are 25 times higher than that of a

normal dangerous level.

Village of Wellsville Code Enforcement Officer Jerome is now requiring

a meeting room, two classrooms, an office and a conference area be sealed

off with a double layer of poly vapor barrier and access to this area will

only given to workers removing the mold.

That seals off more than three-quarters of the building. Only the front area

will be able to be used.

Wellsville Salvation Army Major Mark Himes noticed the mold in the building

at 25 E. Pearl St. weeks ago and immediately shut those areas off from the

public. It is the same mold that forced a Wellsville family, the Ueblackers,

out of their home and caused severe respiratory illness to the children,

doctors say.

That story in The Times Herald has alerted many to the dangers of the mold,

including the Salvation Army. The mold at the Salvation Army is classified

in a report done by Microbiologist Dr. Chin S. Yang of Adelaide Associates

of Binghamton as " overloaded " in some areas, and breaks down the

stachybotrys into several fungi.

On Monday, the Salvation Army started putting up the barriers until a

company can come in and remove the mold.

" The only ones exposed to it were Major Himes and his wife and maybe a staff

member or two, " said Code Enforcement Officer . " The Stachybotrys was

(behind the molding on the base of the walls) and was not airborne.

" The report was clear what they have to do: fix water problems, then get rid

of the mold, " Mr. said.

While it is not a law, Mr. is requiring the mold be removed in double

bags and sent to a sanitary landfill that has prior knowledge it is coming

in. The measure will be expensive, Mr. said, but it will cover

everyone legally.

" I don't want it removed and then be in a position to spread, " said Mr.

. " There is no state law saying you have to remove the mold this way,

but there is no reason why taxpayers should have to pay the cost for the

Salvation Army's problem. So I am doing the best I can to limit the

liability to the village. "

Maj. Himes said " we had heard the stories about the (Ueblacker family) and

we wanted to be safe. Jerry , while he is no expert on black mold, said

it didn't look good.

" We had water coming in the ceiling one day and on another, we had water

coming up from the floor in that room, " he said. " The mold was growing in a

corner that was not used and the elderly and kids from an after-school

program were using the room for about an hour at a time. "

The Salvation Army barely has enough room to operate right now, Maj. Himes

said, and their budget did not allow for $2,000 the organization had to

spend in mold testing. Now, they have to find funding for the removal as

well.

©The Times Herald, Olean, N.Y. 2002