WARREN - Trumbull County's insurance company denied a request Monday to pay for remediation of mold that is growing in the basement of the county Health Department offices. The county's Director of Human Resources James Keating received verbal confirmation from Gallagher-Bassett Inc. of Boardman that cleaning up the mess wouldn't be covered. The insurance agency declined to comment.

Keating was told, however, that cleanup - which could exceed $65,000 - won't be covered because it's unknown when the fungus began growing in the building at 176 Chestnut Ave. N.E. County officials expect a written explanation sometime this week, Keating said.

Commissioners learned in May that a form of toxic mold, stachybatrys, was growing in the basement office of Emergency Agency Director Linda Beil. The offices were sealed, and two full-time workers and four part-time employees have been sharing the Trumbull County 911 Center, which Beil has said is not large enough for her department.

At the same time, air conditioning to the first floor of the Health Department was shut off this summer to prevent mold from spreading throughout the building. As June temperatures rose into the 90s, workers became vocal about inadequate working conditions and took up a petition complaining to commissioners about an uncomfortable work environment.

Commissioner James G. Tsagaris said officials have stalled their decision about whether to fix the building because they have been awaiting word from the insurance company. With the arrival of that decision and heating ducts leading from the basement sealed off, commissioners face a shortening deadline before winter to decide whether to tackle the mold removal project or scrap the building and relocate.

If commissioners opt to keep the building, additional costs would arise to meet state building codes and fix problems such as a leaking roof. Months of meetings and discussions about the matter haven't produced a solution, and Tsagaris offered only that more meetings would be scheduled. ''We have to get together and see what we can do and see if it (the building) is feasible to fix,'' he said. ''We will probably sit down and figure this out.''

Citing the high price for cleanup, Tsagaris supports relocating the county employees and selling or abandoning the current Health Department. ''I think it's a lot more money than I would like to spend,'' he said.

FEDS LAUNCH MASSIVE MOLD STUDY
Cleaning Management Online, September 20, 2002
By Michael McCagg

WASHINGTON –– The National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health is undertaking a massive study on mold and indoor air quality issues. Jean Cox-Ganser, a NIOSH indoor air quality (IAQ) researcher, told CM e-News Daily/CMM Online the study will examine work related asthma in government buildings and schools and its in relation to mold and bio-aerosol exposure. There will be a particular emphasis on mold and other fungal contaminants in the buildings.

Cox-Ganser said NIOSH has not adopted a position on the hotly debated issue of the health impacts of mold. Some studies have indicated a direct tie between mold and respiratory problems, including asthma, and even death, but other studies have only determined that more research is needed.

The study of thousands of workers in federal buildings and schools across the US "will last a couple of years," she said. Among the buildings to be studies is the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services building in Hartford, CT, where the rate of asthma among its 250 workers was 33 percent higher than the state average.

MOLD CLOSES TEXAS COURTHOUSE
Cleaning & Maintenance Management Online, September 11, 2002

ATHENS, TX -- Mold is a hot subject in many courtrooms around the United States, but in one east Texas courthouse, it is a growing subject -- literally.

While the amount of mold litigation has skyrocketed across the US, the Associated Press reported in the Houston Chronicle that mold has forced the closure of the Henderson County Courthouse in east Texas.

Workers in the facility complained of headaches, heightened allergies and difficulty breathing, the newspaper reported.

Court officials are blaming the problem on a faulty air condition system that allows humidity levels to reach up to 90 percent in the facility.

As CM e-News Daily/CMM Online has reported numerous times, indoor humidity levels should be kept between 30 and 60 percent to prevent mold contamination.