County Building Closes For Mold

December 5, 2006

WTVF - Nashville,TN,

Dec 4, 2006 11:12 PM EST

Beginning Friday, county business in County will have to be

suspended, at least temporarily, as the courthouse gets rid of a

mold problem.

County Mayor Nesbitt said some of the mold is already

gone, but the heavy duty cleaning will come Friday when a contracted

company takes out ceiling tiles and removes carpet. Curtains will be

scrubbed, so will the walls.

" Everything, every square inch of this courthouse will be either

washed or vacuumed, " Nesbitt said.

Nesbitt called the situation an emergency, but insisted the mold

levels were never life threatening.

" At this point in time, we feel like there is not an immediate

health threat. We know there is a mold situation here that could

cause problems with people breathing, " he said.

A report made public Monday, revealed some startling findings. One

office on the ground floor tested at 70,000 mold particles per cubic

meter. For comparison, the outside air was just over 2,300 the day

it was tested.

One of the biggest challenges in calculating mold is that there is

no bench-mark. No level is un-safe by government standards.

Dianna Dillehay works on the first floor.

" The only concern, of course, that any of us had was for our health.

And for the general public, " Dillehay said.

Nesbitt said that while the first floor might have tested

dangerously high, the second and third floors tested cleaner than

the outside air.

County workers are brainstorming, scrambling to find alternate

locations to do business when the courthouse shuts down.

Nesbitt insisted the problem is being handled.

The County Courthouse will be closed Friday and next Monday.

The work will progress in phases, and will hopefully be finished by

Jan. 4.

Recommended Posts