Portsmouth Police Department employees have been experiencing illness which they attribute to black mold, and they say Portsmouth Mayor Jane Murray is refusing to have samples tested. However, Murray said tests are not needed, because once mold is identified, it needs to simply be removed.

“There have been five people so far who have been experiencing headaches, sinus problems, respiratory problems,” Portsmouth Police Chief Charles Horner said. “A company came in for environmental testing last week and took some samples, but my understanding is that the Mayor’s office told them once the environmental people told them it was mold, they told them there’s no need to test it. So she stopped the analysis.”

Murray said her reason for not having the samples tested was that once it is identified as mold it should be removed.

She said the chief brought it to her attention and she had City Service Director Bill Beaumont contact Brown Environmental in Wheelersburg.

“He sent one of his inspectors to review it and she took pictures and told us that when mold exists, which it does there, and in other parts of our building, that we can have it tested, but it doesn’t really matter about the test. The same thing applies. You need to remove it, and move forward with cleaning and so forth,” she said.

Julie Weaver of Brown Consulting Services, LLC sent an e-mail to Beaumont on July 21, which said “Normally, we tell clients that if you can see mold, you have mold. Don’t bother testing for it but rather focus your efforts cleaning it up and eliminating the source of the moisture enabling the growth of it.”

Weaver went on to say, “Also the presence of the mold does not mean the spores are present in the air, so separate air sampling would be needed and again, there is no threshold to compare it with to say this amount would make a person sick.”

In an e-mail from Beaumont to Murray and Horner, Beaumont said he had been informed by Julie Weaver of Brown Services that their findings were completed and that she would send him a report.

“I received from her the report, pictures, and articles concerning black mold,” Beaumont said. “I gave this report to Mayor Murray, since she was the person who asked me to contact Brown Services. Ms. Weaver had asked me if we (city) wanted the samples tested. She also stated that the testing of the samples would only show that the mold was present, and this was already known since it was easily visible to the naked eye.”

Beaumont said Weaver said the common practice when mold was discovered, be it black or green, was to initiate removal of the affected area of mold and perform a complete cleaning and disinfection of the area.

Beaumont said on Sept. 25, 2006, Brown Services had performed a walkthrough of the city building and found that there was black mold on the air handling unit and the walls of the mechanical room. He said nothing was done then which has allowed the mold to grow for the last 3 1/2 years.

Murray sent an e-mail to Horner and Beaumont on July 28, saying she had Beaumont call Jeff Brown regarding the mold in the Police Department, and that Brown’s staff reviewed it and told her that there was mold, and that it could have been tested but at a great cost to the city.

She went on to say she would not have the tests done because the mold had already been verified, and instead said the city would clean up the mold.

“Mr. Beaumont is getting costs now for cleaning and removing mold and decay in a building that has built up because the roof was not replaced nor the parapet walls repaired,” Murray said in her e-mail. “I will advise you of a schedule once we have that part in place.”

Murray said the city is working toward solving the problem.

“We had to start replacing the roof and now we’re replacing the tuck-pointing of the building, starting with the west side which gets most of the weather,” Murray said. “And then we start the interior cleanup. So rather than waste money testing, we need to remove the mold so I just said, no, we need to direct that money to the mold cleanup.”

In a letter to Portsmouth City Council concerning mold in Murray’s own office, Portsmouth City Health Commissioner Peggy Burton said, “Reaction to mold severity can range from mild to serious including headaches, breathing difficulties, skin irritation, allergic reactions and aggravation of asthma symptoms. Many reactions may be immediate or delayed and it doesn’t matter if the mold is dead or alive. Repeated exposure has the potential to increase sensitivity.”

Black mold involves about 50 species.

The most infamous species is frequently associated with poor indoor air quality that arises after fungal growth on water-damaged building materials. It is known to produce trichothecene mycotoxins including satratoxins.

According to the United States Department of Labor, “Remediation includes both the identification and correction of the conditions that permit mold growth, as well as the steps to safely and effectively remove mold damaged materials.”

The Centers for Disease Control reports that people exposed to mold may experience symptoms such as nasal stuffiness, eye irritation, wheezing or skin irritation.

FRANK LEWIS can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 232 or flewis@heartlandpublications.com