Florence school waits for mold tests

May 2, 2002

By Judith Rusk

BCT staff writer

jrusk@...

FLORENCE - Pupils moved from their classroom after toxic mold was found in

the hallway of their school will not be returned to that room until test

results show it's safe, school officials said last night.

Pleasantville-based Coastal Environmental Compliance, L.L.C. expects

post-cleanup air-quality test results in about two weeks, company president

lee Morinelli told the township Board of Education during a special

meeting last night.

On April 19, Morinelli found a spot of Stachybotrys atra, a toxic substance

commonly referred to as black mold or Stachy, in a hallway of the Roebling

Elementary School basement. The spot was about the size of a half-dollar.

Last Wednesday, the pupils were moved from a basement classroom so that the

area could be cleaned. The cleanup included washing every surface of the

basement with bleach, low-moisture cleaning of the carpets and replacement

of moisture-stained ceiling tiles.

Those pupils were moved back in the basement briefly yesterday, but after

parents expressed concern, school officials decided to move the children

upstairs again.

Stachy is a fungi that can cause serious health problems, such as wheezing,

nosebleeds and allergic reactions. In high exposure cases, brain-tissue

damage and memory loss could occur.

The mold was found after parent Bob Fielder took his kindergarten-age son to

Dr. Stanley Lane, a stown allergist, who suggested that the school

conduct indoor air-quality tests after the boy repeatedly got sick with

flu-like symptoms.

Morinelli explained that the study, done by RAMM Environmental Services of

Fairlawn in March, did not reveal abnormal levels of mold in the school.

When she was doing a walk-through tour of the building on April 19, however,

Morinelli found the black mold spot.

The total cost for the cleanup and the tests is expected to be nearly

$25,000. Business Administrator Bruce Benedetti said that will be covered by

transferring funds from other parts of the budget, and should not have an

immediate impact on taxpayers.

Tuesday, April 30, 2002

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