City’s worries about mold subside but hardly disappear

8th August 2011   ·   0 Comments

By Susan Buchanan
Contributing Writer

Buildings with bathtub rings and musky smells are less prevalent than in the year or two after Katrina, but mold remains a menace in this humid city—which contains 45,000 abandoned structures. Mold is a fungus that’s visible when colonies grow. Its pollen-like spores can be health hazards when they spread.

Federal Emergency Management Agency grants to the City of New Orleans, totaling over $150 million for “emergency work” and “permanent work,” have included mold treatment, among other activities, FEMA said last week. That’s part of $10.8 billion that FEMA has committed to rebuild Louisiana infrastructure since Katrina and Rita.

“Many of our grants don’t use the term ‘mold remediation,’ but do provide specific remediation, which might include wet vacuuming, damp wiping or HEPA—high-efficiency particulate air—vacuuming of interior spaces,” according to Manuel Broussard, FEMA spokesman in New Orleans. The agency’s grants can pay for removal of contaminated material, or cleaning of air conditioning, heating, plumbing and other equipment, he said.

FEMA’s infrastructure projects include New Orleans schools, police and fire stations, community centers, parks, playgrounds, hospitals, jails, roads and sewerage and water facilities. A year ago, the agency committed $1.84 billion, part of which had been announced earlier, for storm-related damage to buildings run by the Orleans Parish School Board and the state’s Recovery School District.

In early August, city schools are about to open for the fall semester and officials say they remain vigilant for mold. Siona LaFrance, chief of staff at the Recovery School District in New Orleans, said “the most recent, serious mold issue we had was in 2007 when Joseph Craig Elementary had to be closed and students were sent to school in modular buildings in New Orleans East.” Mold was remediated at 85-year-old Craig in Tremé, the inside was completely rebuilt, and the school reopened in early 2010.

“This being New Orleans, with a number of old buildings, there are occasions when mold problems are identified, but we try to address them quickly,” LaFrance said. “We monitor for air quality and have an indoor air-quality expert on staff, working with our operations teams.” and chief operating officer, is the point man for mold. He said the system’s last, major mold treatment was the rehabilitation of Mahalia Jackson Elementary on Jackson Ave., where “mold grew after minor Katrina damage, followed by a lack of power in the area.” A demolition contractor used an environmental subcontractor for mold remediation, and the facility opened in April 2009 after being closed for over a year.

Taitt said if mold, wet plaster, a musty smell or a student with an allergic reaction is reported, his staff can usually address the problem quickly as long as the area is five square feet or less. The moisture source is traced, any leaks are fixed and the hazardous patch is cleaned, bleached and dried. If the moldy area is bigger than five square feet, however, outside environmental engineers are brought in to do tests.

Orleans Parish School Board member Woody Koppel, the former school board president, said mold treatment is a standard part of renovation at city schools. He said because of strict FEMA specifications for schools, new construction is typically more cost effective than renovation. Two new schools to be completed later this year are Edward Hynes Charter School in Lakeview and McDonogh 35 in the Seventh Ward, he noted.

Koppel, who happens to be a certified mold remediator because of his private construction and apartment management business, said mold has to be taken seriously as a threat to people with allergies or compromised immune systems, but he added “it’s something that can be managed in buildings.”

Koppel said “I worry more about drive-by shootings and swallowing friable asbestos than about mold.” He’s in the camp of those who advocate something other than regular bleach to address mold, saying “bleach only kills the flora, making mold seem to disappear, but it’s still present.” In his own buildings, Koppel relies on Clorox Outdoor, and recommends spraying a little on a rag and wiping down the affected surface. Clorox Outdoor Bleach Cleaner is a “thicker formula” than regular bleach, according to The Clorox Company.

In the Ninth Ward, Matthew Sheard, project manager with Lowernine.org, prefers JOMAX mixed with bleach and water to kill mold, but said “you can use any brand of fungicide.” JOMAX, produced by Zinsser Co., Inc. in New Jersey is a mildew killer that magnifies the strength of bleach.

Lowernine.org, founded in 2007, has rehabilitated 25 houses, from beginning to end, with contractors and volunteers doing mold treatment. “We’ve also worked on a number of other houses where owners may have done mold remediation, plumbing and electrical work, but ran out of money and then we stepped in with volunteers and finished the work,” Sheard said.

Sheard advises “spray the JOMAX-bleach-water mixture on framing and then rinse it off. We usually treat homes three times with this mixture, between other jobs and over a period of time.” He said it’s easy to miss spots. “You can use a mold test kit, from Home Depot for instance, to make sure it’s all gone.”

Claudette Reichel, professor and extension housing specialist at LSU AgCenter in Baton Rouge, gave her advice on getting rid of mold. “Bleach can kill mold but that isn’t a substitute for mold removal,” she said. Dead mold doesn’t reproduce, but is as hazardous as live mold—triggering asthma and allergic reactions and causing other health effects depending on an individual’s exposure to it and their own sensitivity. She said it’s important to remove mold completely. She cautioned that bleach can pose health and safety hazards to users, and has no residual or lasting impact on mold. But she said bleach can be a way to kill any lingering mold that remains after removal work.

In homes and other buildings, moisture management is key to preventing mold growth and other problems—like corrosion of nails and screws and buckling of wood floors, Reichel said. Last month, LSU AgCenter and the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Forest Products Laboratory released a report called “Insulating Raised Floors in Hot, Humid Climates,” after studying eight homes in Habitat for Humanity’s Musicians’ Village in New Orleans and four, owner-occupied homes in Baton Rouge.

Over the past month, New Orleans has been rainy, hot and humid—conditions that can create mold in even the cleanest environments. According to the LSU AgCenter-USDA study, at 80 percent relative humidity, wood moisture content in a home is about 16 percent, and at that level it’s possible for mold to grow on wood. The upshot of the report is that home owners can take cost-effective steps to prevent mold and protect occupants.

When property owners ignore moisture, mold and other environmental hazards, they end up in the mess that nearly a decade ago closed Crescent City Towers, Louisiana’s third tallest structure—now called Plaza Tower. After remediation for mold and other hazards, the 45-story building is now clean, and will be auctioned in late September, starting at a minimum bid of $250,000, according to Michael Siegel, president of Corporate Realty in New Orleans.

The Crescent City isn’t the only place struggling with mold. Bathrooms in hotel and motel rooms anywhere can sport mold and mildew because of inadequate ventilation, Koppel said. “I’ve seen mold in lots of places in Europe, especially in Venice, Italy, where it was growing on walls and seemed to be part of the local culture,” he said.

This article was originally published in the August 8, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper