Hard Rock's cleaning up -- on mold

[Guest guest]

SEMINOLE RESERVATION

Hard Rock's cleaning up -- on moldMold has caused one store at the

Hard Rock to shut down. And a restaurant -- in the midst of

renovations -- discovered it had mold problems, too.

BY ROBERTO SANTIAGO

rsantiago@...

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15114551.htm

A beauty store and a restaurant at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel &

Casino complex near Hollywood are battling ugly mold problems -- so

severe that seven of the boutique's employees have gotten sick.

The beauty store, The Body Shop, shut its doors for renovations July

5.

The restaurant, Tequila Ranch, whose kitchen shares the wall where

the Body Shop has its ceiling-to-floor mold problem, closed for

renovations on July 17.

Nance D'Agostino, assistant manager of The Body Shop, which sells

natural skin and bath products, said that she and six other

employees have become sick from the mold the store has had since

March 2005.

Neglect and, later, improper cleaning treatments, just made the

problem worse, she said.

''We have all suffered from a combination of headaches, skin rashes,

sore throats, respiratory infections, body aches, nausea and eye

irritation,'' said D'Agostino, who, along with other employees, has

been relocated to other Body Shops in Miami-Dade and Broward while

work is completed at the store.

D'Agostino said she has suffered three respiratory infections. She

and her fellow employees, who work less than 35 hours a week, do not

qualify for health benefits. They are seeking workers' compensation

through their attorney, .

D'Agostino and another employee told The Miami Herald that their

complaints about a mold problem were ignored by Seminole Paradise

general manager Albert Mulet until a mold remediation specialist

inspected the store on June 29 and said it was an unhealthy place to

work.

Seminole Paradise workers broke into the back wall of the store this

spring and unearthed a grisly sight, D'Agostino said.

MASSIVE MOLD

''The mold takes up the entire back of the store -- from floor to

ceiling,'' D'Agostino said. ``It is thick, black, smelly and has

drawn tiny insects.''

The mold is also in the store's ventilation system, she said.

Katz, spokeswoman for Seminole Paradise, which oversees the

retail stores that are part of the casino complex, confirmed that

there is a mold problem and that it is in the process of being

corrected.

Mulet refused to comment.

And Larry Carino, spokesman for Tequila Ranch, stressed the

restaurant did not close because of a mold problem.

''We had planned to do renovations to expand our restaurant months

ago,'' he said. ``It was only last week when we knocked down a wall

in our kitchen area that we became aware that we had mold.''

EMPLOYEES OK

Unlike The Body Shop, there have been no reports of any employee or

patron of Tequila Ranch becoming sick because of mold exposure.

Carino expects Tequila Ranch to reopen in mid-August.

The Body Shop might reopen sometime next month, D'Agostino said.

Seth Norman, spokesman for the Walled Lake, Michigan-based National

Association of Mold Professionals, said that daily, prolonged

inhalation of mold spores can cause health problems.

''All mold spores can cause upper respiratory problems, stuffy noses

and lung congestion,'' said Norman, who said the symptoms

experienced by The Body Shop employees are typical of mold exposure.

But Norman cautioned that employees who are pregnant, undergoing

chemotherapy, or are HIV positive could face a variety of health

complications.

CUSTOMERS HEALTHY

The good news? Customers who shopped at the store -- even when mold

conditions were at their heaviest -- are likely OK, he said.

The process of renovating an establishment that has a mold problem

can take days or weeks, depending on the severity, he said.

''The store has to be completely sealed off, the air has to be

contained, exteriors have to be removed, and the interiors have to

be treated,'' he said.

Bloom, president of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino,

said there is no evidence of mold anywhere else in the complex.