What's being done about toxic mold?

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KING 5 Investigators: What's being done about toxic mold?

05/17/2002

By Byron, KING 5 Investigators

SEATTLE - From mold covered walls to collapsing ceilings, tenants at the

Forest Glen apartments in Olympia have seen it all. Yet, despite dozens of

complaints to managers and city building officials, the apartments are being

rented out over and over. And tenants keep moving out, claiming toxic mold

is making them sick.

Why isn't more being done to protect people? KING 5 Investigator Byron

decided to find out.

KING

Despite complaints, the apartments are being rented out over and over.

When Bowman and her 20-month-old son Chase moved into the Forest

Glen apartments in Olympia, Bowman thought she'd found an affordable place

for her family to live. Within days, little Chase was in the hospital.

" He started breathing funny, his airway was closing off, he had a hard time

breathing, " said Bowman.

Then a previous tenant knocked on the door, warning Bowman she'd become sick

from mold in that apartment, unit J-64.

Resource Links

Private Indoor Air Quality Consulting Companies

Toxic Mold FAQs

Washington Insurance Commissioners

Center for Disease Control

Bowman began to look closer.

" When I pulled his bed away from the wall to clean up the toys, there was

nothing but mold behind his bed and fear ran through my mind, " said Bowman.

" Oh my God, is this what's making my son sick? "

Bowman hired an environmental team to test the mold that was growing right

through the walls. The tests confirmed high levels of mold, including

aspergillus and stachybotrys, both considered toxic.

" I was outraged, totally disgusted, " said Bowman.

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Legally Speaking: Toxic mold

So just 6 weeks after moving into J-64, Bowman moved out. Two weeks later,

city building inspectors declared the unit " unsafe for human occupancy. "

They ordered the owner to remove the visible mold and replace some of the

sheet rock. The very next day, the city declared J-64 safe again. Within

days, new tenants moved in: Jake, and 2-year-old Andre. was 4

months pregnant.

But as the smell of fresh paint faded, another odor emerged. And when they

left a dish in the sink overnight.

" There's already mold growing off it in the morning, so it grows really,

really fast, " said Jake.

They started seeing it everywhere: black mold growing on the windows, an

actual mushroom growing in one place, and the ceiling sagging from apparent

moisture.

KING

Mold was growing right through the walls.

The KING 5 Investigators hired a new team of experts to run tests on their

unit. When the results came back from the lab, the mold counts were off the

charts.

It was especially bad in the baby's room, which was contaminated with

stachybotrys, thought to be one of the most toxic of all molds.

" They're bad. These are very bad numbers, " said one of our assessors. " I

would definitely recommend that the people who live in such an apartment

complex should move out until this can be fixed. "

Both the apartment manager and the building's owner, Eli Moreno of Tacoma,

Wash., refused to answer any questions asked by the KING 5 Investigators

about the problem. Moreno simply referred us to his attorney.

Moreno's attorney wouldn't go on-camera but told the KING 5 Investigators

" when issues are brought to our attention...we have worked with the city to

rectify the problem. "

There are plenty of problems to address. The KING 5 Investigators found 14

different mold complaints last year and another 17 already this year.

Washko is Olympia's chief building official. He says Mr. Moreno has

made substantial repairs in some units, but in others the mold was simply

bleached and painted over.

" That has happened there in many, many units, " said Washko.

So why hasn't Mr. Moreno received a single citation by the city of Olympia?

" We haven't cited him is because all we're asking him to do is correct the

violations, " said Washko. " If we see a small amount of mold and he bleaches

and paints it over, then basically he has removed the mold from the problem

area. "

That's little consolation to Jake and who had to move out, nor did it

help Bowman who worries about the next family moving into J-64.

" I'm extremely upset, " said Bowman. " All I want to do is go up there and

warn them this is what's going to happen to your family. This is what's

happened to mine. "

City building officials may finally be running out of patience. Just 24

hours after Washko told us his department had never issued a single

citation against Eli Moreno, they issued this one: Mr. Moreno will be fined

$50 a day for failing to correct violations in unit E-30. The number one

problem: Mold.

KING

Black mold was growing everywhere.

The KING 5 Investigators have learned recently that repairs are already

being made to the roof of the unit J-64 to eliminate potential sources of

moisture.

The KING 5 Investigators went to the health department and was surprised to

hear they don't have the authority to take any action in a case like this.

They said they can only advise tenants and refer them to other people.

Health officials have met with Eli Moreno.

So no one is really looking out for toxic mold incidents. Building

inspectors can order what's visible removed, but again, have no authority to

dig deeper. They don't run any tests themselves to figure out what kind of

mold is there, whether it's toxic and how much of a health risk it presents.

Under " Resource Links " you'll find a partial list of IAQ consultants in

Washington state who can conduct in-depth investigations into indoor air

quality problems you may be having at your place of business or worksite.

This list is provided for informational purposes only and does not imply

preference, approval, endorsement or accreditation by the Department of

Labor & Industries.