Mold Infestation News

Mold Forces Family To Move Out, Gut Entire House

June 24, 2004, WFTV.com

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. -- An Osceola County family comes home from vacation and finds a $150,000 problem. A broken refrigerator pipe is what started the mess. Now, the family will have to gut the house because of mold. When Rebecca Li walked in her home, she was stunned. Her home reeked of toxic fumes and, what's worse, she found mold growing on her walls, her furniture and even on a handbag.

"When I opened the door, I was shocked. The carpet [was] full of water and the wall was full of mildew. It was terrible. The whole house was damaged," she explains. Li says she was only gone for a few weeks. She was visiting friends and family members in China. When she got back, she realized a pipe behind her refrigerator had broken.

"I have this house more than 10 years. This is first time. No such thing happened before," Li says.
The entire house is damaged and a clean-up crew estimates it will cost about $150,000 to repair the home, and that's not including all of her personal belongings.

Li did not have her air conditioner on and a contractor says that's what probably made the mold grow so quickly.
Li and her family are now forced out of their home while crews continue to clean up their house.

"It's not healthy for anyone to be in there for a long period of time without respiratory and breathing apparatus that will make it safe," says contractor Micah Bass. Workers say the next step for this house is to gut it. Once the house is gutted, they'll test the structure to see if there is mold. If there is mold, then the house will have to be torn down.

Mold crews say, if you see mold in your home you should have it tested to see how dangerous it is. And, if you are required to move out of your home, make sure you test again before you move back in.

40 Story 911 Ground Zero Skyscraper In Big Trouble Because of Mold Infestation
[from Cleaning and Maintenance Management Online, cmmonline.com]

NEW YORK — A 40-story skyscraper at the edge of Ground Zero withstood the terrorist attacks — but could be demolished because of a gross infestation of foul mold. The steel and glass face of the Deutsche Bank tower on Liberty Street was ripped open by a violent wave of debris from the collapsing World Trade Center.

While the rubble damaged a major structural column in the building, engineers have deemed the tower stable. The real problem is what's inside the walls. Officials at Ground Zero say an aggressive fungus — described as looking like black splotches — has spread rapidly in the walls and ventilation ducts of the building, which was valued at $178 million before September 11, the Daily News reported.

Cleanup crews and bank employees who have been in the tower said the mold is everywhere. Deutsche Bank has not released details about the mold. But city officials said they believe the fungus grew rapidly because of dark and damp conditions in the abandoned building. They said it does not appear related to any toxic contaminants from the collapsing towers.

Sprinklers inside the bank building apparently were triggered by intensely hot fires at Ground Zero and soaked many of the floors, the newspaper reported. The water eventually stopped, but weeks went by before workers were able to seal a 24-story gash in the building's facade.

"They got a big problem," said Terry Gordon, an associate professor at the New York University School of Medicine who researches workplace air quality. Gordon said removing the mold from the tower would be a monumental task.

The bank is concerned enough about the mold and asbestos contamination in nearby buildings that it has allowed few employees to retrieve items from the offices, sources said. Those who have gone into the tower say they have had to undergo safety training and don a protective suit and respirator.

Deutsche Bank officials have been tight-lipped about the tower's fate. But the bank has quietly discussed razing or partially demolishing the building if the mold can't be scrubbed away, sources said. Spokesman Mark Lingnau said no decision has been made. The city is not pressuring the bank to make a move.

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Mold Forces Family To Move Out, Gut Entire House