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Mold concerns raised at school
By
Janet L. Metzner
Tribune-Review
September 30, 2003
As Moon Area school officials complete mold- and moisture-related repairs
at the district's senior high school, new concerns are being raised about
what some think looks like mold in part of Bethel Park High School.
Condensation from an
air conditioning system backed up into the Moon Area library earlier this
month, damaging 347 books beyond repair. Another 1,500 books have been
sent to a restoration company for dehumidification.
The system that
controls humidity in the school has been reset, ceiling tiles have been
replaced in the cafeteria after mold was discovered there and nearby water
pipes have been covered to prevent further moisture problems.
"Water is the enemy
here," Dave Zazac, a spokesman for the Allegheny County Health Department,
said Monday. "If you have high humidity from throughout the school, you
can start to have moisture on floors and walls, and mold can grow."
At Bethel Park, meanwhile, dripping water damaged ceiling tiles in Room
2006 of Building 2, but the district says there is no mold problem.
"We have replaced
the ceiling tile, and have relocated the students and the teachers from
that room" for now, Assistant Principal Glenn Hughes said.
The relocation was
necessary only because the odor of the new ceiling tile "is offensive,"
said Art Morally, director of facilities and services. He said an
environmental services company has tested and done repairs at the building
over the last two weeks.
"There was no mold
in any room of that building," Morally said.
But Marilyn Veverka,
vice president of the Bethel Park Federation of Teachers, is skeptical.
"I'm sure they are
saying that," she said yesterday, referring to the report of no mold. "In
that case, I would like someone to tell us what the greenish-black
blotches growing on ceiling tile might be."
While Zazac said the
health department hasn't received any complaints about mold or any
illnesses that could be related to it in the Bethel Park schools,
inspectors from the department plan to return to Moon Area next month to
check on repairs there.
Zazac said the
department also hasn't received any other recent complaints about mold in
schools, but said humid air from the rainy summer may have aggravated
mechanical problems in the Moon Area and Bethel Park buildings'
ventilation systems, causing condensation.
At Moon Area, for
example, no mold was found in the library but it was on four ceiling tiles
above the cafeteria dining area. Zazac said it grew there after
condensation dripped from water pipes that weren't insulated -- a
violation of health codes.
The repairs there
could cost the district up to $25,000 -- the amount of its insurance
policy deductible, said Allan Bennett, director of fiscal and school
services.
Bethel Park's
teachers' union in November issued a "Sick Buildings" report, based on a
survey of staff members, and it included complaints about each of five
rooms near Room 2006, on the building's lower level. The report referred
to mold, strange odors, stained or falling tiles.
"That (report) was
an opinion," Morally said. "We did an air quality test, and there was no
mold."
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