Fw: [ToxicMoldSurvivors] Texas: City reopens offices after mold scare dismissed

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From: " Toxic Mold Survivors " <ToxicMoldSurvivors@...>

" Toxic Mold Survivors " <ToxicMoldSurvivors >

Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2001 7:58 PM

Subject: [ToxicMoldSurvivors] Texas: City reopens offices after mold scare

dismissed

City reopens offices after mold scare dismissed

By CINDY VAN AUKEN/Tribune-Herald staff writer

The city of Waco has reopened a portion of City Hall after finding out

that concerns of toxic mold there were unfounded.

But officials still opted to relocate the operations of two fire

stations this week until they receive the results of mold tests from the two

buildings.

Assistant City Manager Bert Lumbreras said officials decided to

temporarily close Fire Station No. 1, at 504 University-Parks Drive, and

Fire Station No. 12, at 602 Airline Drive, earlier this week in case mold

spotted in the buildings turned out to be toxic.

Firefighters and equipment from Station No. 1 are temporarily being

housed at the Central Fire Station, 1016 Columbus Ave. The operations of

Station No. 12, located near Texas State Technical College, have been moved

to a nearby firefighting facility owned by Raytheon E-System Airborne

Systems, Lumbreras said.

" We did this as a precautionary measure, " he said. " This certainly

does not affect our response time or our coverage (for fire calls). "

The city should find out next week whether the mold at the fire

stations is harmful, Lumbreras said. It hired a microbiology consulting firm

to take air quality samples and conduct other mold tests at the two

buildings, as well as several other facilities, earlier this week, he said.

The company has already conducted tests at City Hall, a portion of

which of which was sealed off last week because of mold concerns, Lumbreras

said. The tests showed the mold there was not toxic, so the area was

reopened earlier this week, he said. To prevent a further mold outbreaks,

the carpets in that area have been replaced and the air conditioners have

been deep-cleaned, Lumbreras said.

After the consulting company analyzes the data from this week's tests,

it will give the city recommendations about what should be done and how much

it would cost, Lumbreras said. He said he did not know how much the city has

already paid the company or how many buildings might eventually be affected

by mold concerns.

" From our perspective, we just want to know the extent of the problem

and know whether it is serious or not, " Lumbreras said. " We are especially

concerned about buildings where we have high concentrations of employees. "

Molds can grow just about anywhere there is moisture and can cause

allergy symptoms and aggravate respiratory problems, experts say. Certain

molds which contain mycotoxins have been suspected of causing health

problems such as memory loss and pulmonary hemorrhage in rare cases.

There are no state or federal laws regulating how much mold can be

present in public buildings, but the Texas Legislature has ordered the Texas

Department of Health to establish voluntary standards for mold levels in

buildings by September. In the meantime, Waco city officials have said they

plan to wage an education campaign encouraging city employees to report mold

and prevent the water leaks that can cause it.

Van Auken can be reached at cvanauken@... or at

757-5744.

http://www.accesswaco.com/auto/feed/news/2001/06/29/993860787.29920.1684.014

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