Mold controversy heightened at Edinburg Economedes High School

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Mold controversy heightened at Edinburg Economedes High School

By M. Whitehead

The Monitor

EDINBURG - A Dallas-based company resumed efforts Saturday to clean up the

mold at Edinburg Economedes High School after a judge last month ordered

work to stop.

" The restraining order passed at midnight (Friday), " said Bill Holder,

vice-president for Assured Indoor Air Quality L.P. (AIAQ).

Landmark Organization, an Austin-based design-build construction company

built the 2-year-old $26 million school. The company's representatives at

the school Saturday said that the restraining order had been extended until

today when a hearing on the issue will be considered in the 275th state

District Court of Judge Noe .

Edinburg School District officials approved a $15.7 million project May 30

for AIAQ to remove mold discovered at the high school.

The district trustees declared the mold infestation reported by AIAQ an

emergency, which allowed them to give the clean-up contract to the company

without seeking bids or a comparison study.

However, 275th state District Court Judge Partida granted Landmark a

temporary restraining order May 31 to prevent the clean up until Landmark

could do its own evaluation and testing.

Landmark representatives said that the restraining order had been extended

to June 17, but could not provide documentation to that effect. Instead,

they produced a letter from Landmark attorney Ezequiel r that said the

term of the order was extended from June 7 to June 17.

Landmark employees had planned to do more inspections of the site Saturday

and were surprised to find AIAQ preparing to begin work.

" They're just cleaning up the evidence, " said , a Landmark

air-conditioning mechanical supervisor.

Landmark Communications Director Terri Dusek said the school district has

implied it may sue the company and the subcontractors who worked on the

project to pay for the clean-up.

said the real cause of the mold is poor maintenance, including loose,

cracked and missing belts on the several parts of air conditioners.

He said loose belts don't allow the air conditioners to work correctly,

which would account for moisture remaining in the building.

" These belts are supposed to be adjusted once a month and replaced every six

months, " he said.

He also found panels that should have been protecting compressors for some

air conditioners near the gym, which had been removed.

" They didn't put the screws back in right, so they fell off, " said.

" It killed the compressor. "

said none of the exhaust fans, which are supposed to expel air from

the building had belts.

" Some of these motors just don't come on, " said as he flipped the

switches on several of the exhaust fans, many of which did not start.

On many of the units, the drains appeared to have not been serviced, he

said, because reddish brown fluid had collected in them.

" The drain lines need to be unclogged, " he said. " They've been like that for

a long time. "

He explained that the drain pans had become full and eventually overflowed.

That water has to go somewhere he said.

AIAQ's Holder denied that there was any connection between the maintenance

problems with the air conditioners and the mold problems inside.

He said that the exhaust fans had nothing to do with air quality inside the

building.

" They just exhaust air out of the building, " Holder said. " If they have dry

air inside, you have dry air out the exhaust. If it's wet air, then wet air

goes out the exhaust. "

Holder said that, in an effort to keep cost low, the air conditioners at the

school are very cheap and of poor quality.

" The air conditioners are putting wet air into the building, " he said. " The

technology has to change. It's a huge difference in technology. "

Holder said AIAQ would remove the mold and correct conditions that cause

mold.

" Mold is always the result of water and high humidity, " Holder said. " Once

it gets hold, it continues to grow. The problem gets worse much faster. "

When the school district awarded AIAQ the $15.7million contract in May,

administration officials cited wet ceiling panels and a warped gym floor.

" They had on-and-off suspicions (of poor air quality) since the school

opened, " said Gilbert Tagle, the district's public information officer.

" They had been doing the best they can to keep the classrooms clean. "

Holder said AIAQ first saw the building in October.

" It was probably March when we were instructed to test the building and

investigate it, " he said. " We started talking to the board about scheduling,

prices, and it was finalized in May. "

" We are concerned that the taxpayers will end up covering the cost of this

decision by the school board, " Dusek said. " The school board may not have

known about the extent of the maintenance problems. "

She said that AIAQ is set to make $15 million over 15 months of work then

the school district would try to stick Landmark with the cost.

" We're concerned that the taxpayers will end up covering the cost of this

decision by the school board, " Dusek said. " The school board may not have

known about the extent of the maintenance problems. "

Dusek also questioned the process by which AIAQ was awarded the contract.

" The contractors that did the testing got the contract, " Dusek said. " They

said, 'You have a condition,' and based on their report they were awarded

the contract without independent verification. "

After Landmark's Dusek called media to the school Saturday, school officials

sent district police to remove the Landmark employees and the media from the

campus. They later reversed that decision and allowed a brief tour, then

reversed the decision again and ordered all but the clean-up crews off the

campus.