Portland Fails to Fix Sea Terminal

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Portland Fails to Fix Sea Terminal

$1.2m Cleanup Falls Short; Woes at Facility Have Cost Area's Economy

Millions

By Tom Nugent, Globe Correspondent | March 18, 2006

PORTLAND, Maine -- One year after a federal agency found that

structural defects contributed to mold-related illnesses at

Portland's International Marine Terminal, the agency is about to

report that the city's $1.2 million effort to eliminate health

hazards at the site failed.

The 97-year-old waterfront complex remains closed, costing the

region's economy millions of dollars in tourism revenue, according

to city and tourism officials.

The report by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and

Health will be released within two weeks, according to Dr. Elena H.

Page, who supervised a three-day inspection of the terminal last

March after about 20 terminal-based employees at Scotia Prince

Cruises and the Portland office of the US Customs and Border

Protection agency complained toxic mold had made them sick.

Meanwhile, the city has entered into arbitration in a $40 million

lawsuit brought by a former Portland-based United States-to-Canada

ferry line that says it was forced to leave the terminal and close

its operations because of the mold.

Federal inspectors concluded that the terminal shows ''residual

fungal contamination " and that structural problems in the roof will

encourage ''continued microbial growth. " They also found that

complaints of respiratory illness from toxic mold are ''consistent

with exposure to a building with such extensive water damage and

microbial contamination. "

Although city officials said they spent more than $1.2 million on

remediation before the federal inspection team arrived, City

Attorney Wood said the city has not been in contact with the

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health since.

Wood also said the city was unaware the federal agency issued an

interim report last October, even though it was addressed to

Portland City Manager ph Gray Jr. That report's numerous

recommendations for preventing toxic mold will appear in the final

version, federal officials said.

The city contends that it eliminated the toxic mold problem soon

after Scotia Prince Cruises complained that a dozen of its workers

were suffering from symptoms of mold-related illness, including

severe headaches, dizziness, muscle cramps, blurred vision, and

inability to concentrate.

City officials say they eliminated water leakage and mold from the

terminal before the federal inspection team arrived. Federal

investigators disagreed. ''We saw patches of blue sky through the

holes in the roof, and water fell on our heads, " said industrial

hygienist Burton, an investigator for the agency's

hazard evaluations and technical assistance branch. ''The

word 'leak' isn't really accurate to describe the condition of the

building. "

City officials also contend that the cruise operators complained

about mold-related illness to escape their lease, since the 480-foot

ferry to Nova Scotia had been losing passengers in recent years.

''The city has made it clear that the Scotia Prince was not forced

out of business due to any problems with the facility, " said

attorney Kayatta, who is representing the city in the

arbitration. ''The city is also seeking recovery in the arbitration

for damages caused by Scotia Prince in violation of its lease. "

Scotia Prince Cruises president Mark Hudson said it told city

officials it would not operate the ferry from the terminal unless it

was made safe. ''The remediation was ineffective and so we were

forced to cancel the 2005 season, " he said. As a result, the city

terminated the Scotia Prince lease ''and destroyed our business, "

Hudson said. ''We're now seeking reimbursement for the financial

damage we suffered. "

During the period that Scotia Prince employees said they had become

ill, several employees of the Customs and Border Protection unit

stationed at the terminal reported similar symptoms. Shortly

afterward, the customs operation was moved downtown. Customs ''was

aware that there were complaints about mold and they did everything

necessary to make sure of the health and safety of their employees, "

said a spokesman, Ted Woo.

Captain W. Monroe, the city's ports and transportation

director, said Portland ''took a financial hit " when Scotia Prince

left. ''We lost $400,000 a year in fees, " he said, ''which is about

20 percent of our total yearly income from that source. And losing

the tourist traffic didn't help the local economy any, either. "

But Monroe said he is confident most of the losses will be made up

when a new, faster catamaran ferry operated by Bay Ferries Ltd.

begins three-times-a-week service to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, in late

May.

Mark Mac, chief executive at Bay Ferries, said he is not aware

of the about-to-be-released report by the federal agency on

structural problems at the terminal, where the catamaran will dock.

''The City of Portland has given us assurances in our [two-year]

lease that the terminal does not contain any health hazards, "

Mac said.