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Mold plagues state buildings
By Ray Hagar
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
November 25, 2002
State health officials have discovered 14 patches of potentially toxic mold in
state buildings since April, including in the dome of the Legislature Building
and the basement of the State Capitol in Carson City, according to state
documents.
Two health claims were filed last summer by state workers against the state
after an indoor air quality investigation discovered mold at the Southern Nevada
Correctional Center in Las Vegas, said Sue Dunt, director of the state’s risk
management division.
Mold spores also were found at the Department of Motor Vehicles main Reno
office, the National Guard Complex in Carson City and the Grant Sawyer Building,
opened in 1995 in Las Vegas. Those discoveries were not considered a health risk
and no claims have been filed against the state by workers in those buildings,
Dunt said.
“Most of them (the 14 discoveries) would be characterized as a mold problem
found in one small part of the building,” Dunt said.
The state has been aggressively investigating indoor air quality complaints
since 85 employees of the Nevada Division of Child and Family Services filed a
lawsuit against the state in February 2001, alleging that exposure to mold was
making them sick, Dunt said. That suit still is pending, Deputy Attorney General
Laurie Buck said.
“After that, that was the time we really focused on making sure we get this
under control,” Dunt said.
Uncontrolled water leaks that saturate organic building materials — such as
ceiling tiles or Sheetrock — created mediums for mold growth, Dunt said. Dry
spores can get into the air and into the respiratory systems of the occupants
and cause a variety of illnesses, including chronic fatigue and nausea.
Four other health claims from Department of Corrections employees in Carson City
were filed earlier this year after bat guano and urine were found above the
ceiling of their office at the Stewart facility, Dunt said.
Those claims were filed after some workers developed a rash from particles of
insulation that fell into work areas while the bat problem was being
investigated, Dunt said.
Six workers from that building — all in the offender-management department —
recently were transferred to another building, said Jackie Crawford, director of
the Department of Corrections.
“The bats and the guano have caused some consternation among the staff and
myself,” Crawford said. “We had a whole entourage out there from the Department
of Risk Management and I pointed that out to them.”
Fifty-two workers remain in the administrative building beset by bats as the
repair and cleanup continue.
“The building is old and apparently the bats have come back there to roost for a
number of years,” Crawford said.
If the current repairs do not work, Crawford said she might ask that the state
find new office space for her workers.
“What else can you do?” she asked. “You can’t continue in those conditions. We
just want our staff to be housed in offices that are as good as other state
workers.”
The Sawyer building, built in the mid-1990s, has had a difficult history of
indoor air quality. Nevada’s largest government building, the facility underwent
a large mold cleanup in 1998 after workers complained of chronic fatigue
syndrome, nausea and other ailments from the building’s poor indoor air quality.
Toxic mold spores were found growing in the ceiling and walls because of heating
valve leaks. The current problem, which was cleaned up in October for $2,825,
eliminated mold that was growing from a drip in a pipe.
The discovery of mold in the Legislature Building’s dome comes only five years
after the building was completed.
“When the dome was originally put in, I don’t think it was quite water tight,”
said Lorne Malkiewich, director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau.
The state has spent about $225,000 on mold investigation and abatements since
April 2001, according to records. The Internal Finance Committee also authorized
another $250,000 for indoor air investigations last Thursday.
After the employees in the Las Vegas offices of the Nevada Division of Child and
Family Services filed their initial lawsuit against the state in February 2001,
another group of employees filed a second lawsuit in May 2001. They claimed the
state was not cleaning up the mold problem in a timely manner. They alleged in
court papers that they experienced breathing problems, loss of hair, nausea,
headaches, stiff joints and fever as a result of being exposed to mold at work.
That suit has been dismissed, Buck said.
Last March, more than 100 workers at an office of the Division of Welfare in
Reno had to be relocated because mold spores were found in a leased building.
The next month, the IFC authorized the indoor air quality investigation fund.
The cleanup of indoor air quality to the Southern Nevada Correctional Center was
the most expensive of the 14 state buildings that were discovered to have mold —
costing $60,239, according to state documents.
The roof leak at the Reno DMV office at 305 Galletti Way — which caused mold
growth in the ceiling — cost $5,462. A $5,000 cleanup of mold in the janitors’
closet at the Reno DMV currently is being done. The mold in the Legislature
Building dome was a fairly simple job, Malkiewich said. It cost $1,500,
according to state records.
Indoor air quality summary
Here is a list of the indoor air quality projects done at state-owned buildings
since April 2001:
Southern Nevada Correctional Center: Mold found growing in soils next to
building. Cost of repair: $60,239. Mold found growing in dishwasher room. Cost:
$19,000.
Dome on Legislature Building: Mold growth blamed on water leakage. Cost: $1,500.
National Guard Complex in Carson City: Mold in basement carpets because of
sewage leak. Cost: $13,798.
Department of Motor Vehicles in Reno: Mold growing on ceiling of inspection
building because of a roof leak: Cost: $5,462. Test for mold in janitors’ closet
in main building. Cost: $735. Elimination of mold in janitors’ closet currently
is being done. Cost: $5,000.
Department of Corrections, Stewart facility: Fans to blow stench of bat guano
and urine from office building: $1,260. Cost of total project: $17,000.
Grant Sawyer Building, Las Vegas: Pipe leak in mechanics room: $2,825.
Nevada Highway Patrol evidence room in Las Vegas: Mold on pipes due to water
leak. Cost: $460.
Indian Springs Conservation Camp: Mold in office next to showers. Cost: $2,400.
Veterans Home in Boulder City: Mold in wall cavities due to a leaking pipe.
Cost: $14,240.
Indian Spring Conservation Camp: Mold found in shower room. Problem is under
evaluation. Estimated cost: $25,000. |
