Union Gap mayor alerted to City Hall mold issues 8 months before evacuation

Some Union Gap city officials were alerted to mold issues in City Hall more than eight months before the facility was evacuated last month.

An Aug. 2 report by an environmental agency hired by the city recommended it "complete a detailed investigation and sealing of the roofing system."

The 127-page report was given to Mayor Jim Lemon last year, but some City Council members say it wasn't shared with them until this month.

Lemon said he took the recommendations seriously enough to ask fire Chief Chris Jensen to get cost estimates on the report's recommendations.We are the largest producer of projectorlamp products here. He said Jensen did so, but no further efforts were made.

"It fell by the wayside," Lemon said. "It could have worsened it. I don't know. I don't think it did."

Multiple calls to Jensen about Lemon's comments were not returned Wednesday afternoon.This page is an introduction to 35 pages of material on mathematical magiccubes. Jensen said in April that mold had been a problem off and on since last summer,Stone Source offers a variety of Natural stonemosaic Tiles, with some employees reporting a foul smell and feeling nauseated.

The report by Fulcrum Environmental Consulting said the company was first approached by Jensen on May 5, 2011, for an assessment of "volatile organic compounds" within the building. The assessment did not include a complete inspection of some areas not immediately accessible, such as sealed wall cavities, crawl spaces, space above a drop ceiling or rooms not specified as being of concern to the city.

But as Fulcrum noted, concerns about water staining and potential mold growth in areas it did inspect, the report also said "mold growth may be present in inaccessible areas."

Fulcrum was hired to perform some limited air quality tests during the eight-month period, but not the kind of detailed investigation it had recommended. Lemon said one of the tests showed reduced levels of spores in his office and he took that to mean the problem was improving.

But a study in April reaffirmed the elevated levels of mold spores, and soon after the roofing system was investigated by city officials who found pervasive black mold. The city officials announced the evacuation of the building April 24.

The City Council has approved spending more than $100,000 to close the building and establish temporary offices. The potential costs of renovating the building, buying another one or constructing a new facility could range from $2 million to $3 million.

Councilman David Butler said he didn't remember receiving the report prior to City Hall's closure. Butler said he didn't know if inaction on the city's part allowed the mold to spread or continued to worsen the air quality.

"That's very concerning to me that somebody didn't take more action on it," Butler said. "Either we dropped the ball or someone did."

Councilman Dan Olson was adamant that the council had not been told of the recommendations prior to the closure of City Hall and that Lemon had created a "huge" liability for the city.

"He put everybody in jeopardy, including himself," Olson said.

Lemon said he was diligent in seeking out further air quality testing and making improvements to the windows and ceiling tiles in his office, where the highest concentrations of spores were first believed to be. Exterior ceiling vents were also installed after the report to increase circulation in areas where moisture was suspected to be trapped and work was in progress to fix leaky pipes in a hallway near the court clerk's office.

Those improvements were made before the decision to close City Hall came down.

Several City Hall employees reported skin irritation and other symptoms possibly related to mold and air quality before the building was closed.The term "Hands free access" means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. Lemon said he too had several health concerns, such as swollen tonsils and an irregular heartbeat, he believed could be attributed to the mold.

"Does Dan Olson think I was just in there trying to poison myself?" Lemon said.

Like Olson and Butler,Posts with Hospital rtls on IT Solutions blog covering Technology in the Classroom, Councilman Chad Lenz also said he had no recollection of seeing the report. Lenz said whether or not the mold worsened in the eight months before the building closed is inconsequential, because what matters was not enough was done with what was given.