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Mercer University cleaning up hazardous site

Source: https://www.13wmaz.com, November 28, 2018
By: Avery Braxton

The Mercer University Triangle is considered a hazardous site by the Environmental Protection Division.

An area frequented by Mercer University students and Bibb County residents has been considered a hazardous site for years.

The “Mercer University Triangle” lies right alongside Mercer Village and focused primarily where Montpelier Avenue and Coleman Avenue split near Mercer’s campus. The university discovered chemicals in the ground circa 2004 when they began building the fountain near Mercer Village.

“We discovered that there was a tank underground,” said James Netherton, Vice President of Administration and Finance at Mercer. “Knowing that there was a dry cleaners there before, we figured it was related to it.”

Testing uncovered concentrations of chemicals like tetrachlorothene and tricholoroethene that had seeped into the ground from a dry cleaners years prior. There was also a gas station petroleum tank in the ground.

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Freshman death leads to fears of possible mold-adenovirus connection at University of Maryland

Source: https://www.theblaze.com, November 23, 2018
By: Teri Webster

The University of Maryland in College Park is contending with fears about whether a student’s death from adenovirus was related to mold found in campus dorm rooms. Five more students also have illnesses tied to the virus, but it isn’t clear if mold is the culprit, according to published reports.

Freshman Olivia Paregol, 18, died Sunday after contracting the virus, CBS News reported.

Adenoviruses are common and can cause symptoms such as a cold or eye infections, according to published reports. A vaccine is reportedly available for adenovirus, but it is not available to the public.


Freshman Jessica Thompson told the news outlet she noticed mold on her shoes and on clothing in her dorm room in August. Thompson said she believe the fungus made her and her roommate ill.

“You can’t sleep at night because the pillow is right next to mold and you’re up all night coughing,” Thompson told the news outlet. “We got to go home on the weekends and we would be totally fine at home, and we would come back and would be sniffling and coughing and then have headaches.”…



Source: https://www.wqpmag.com, October 8, 2018

The bacteria was discovered following two cases of Legionnaires’ disease Legionella discovered in New Jersey drinking water

Nine schools and one hotel in West Orange, N.J., discovered legionella bacteria following two confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease. The schools and hotel are flushing pipes and the hotel has replaced shower heads. The bacteria has been found in drinking water at all but three West Orange Public Schools, as reported by NJ Advance Media.

According to West Orange Public Schools, legionella was found in samples taken from Gregory Elementary School, Hazel Elementary School, Mt. Pleasant Elementary School, Redwood Elementary School, St. Cloud Elementary School, Washington Elementary School, Edison Middle School, Roosevelt Middle School, West Orange High School and the administrative building.

“The region sees seasonal increases in the summer months generally,” said Nicole Kirgan, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health. “This year seems particularly active, given that we have experienced very wet and humid weather these past few months.”

While there have been no confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease at West Orange Public Schools, there were two cases at the Ramada Plaza hotel near the Newark Airport. The hotel has taken steps to disinfect their water system and replace shower heads, following the discovery.

According to ABC News, the schools district has begun the process of pumping chlorine into the schools hot water heaters to flush the system. Following the flush, new water samples will be taken seven to ten days later to ensure the bacteria is gone.


Towers Residence Suites to remain closed as WSU clears Legionella from campus

Source: https://www.wxyz.com, July 16, 2018

Wayne State University officials say they are working to eliminate the Legionella bacteria that has been found in a number of buildings on campus.

However, they say that while much of the contamination has been remediated, work still needs to be done on several facilities, including the Towers Residence Suites and the Student Center.

Officials say it will take several more weeks before they rooftop cooling towers on the Towers Residence Suites can be replaced, and the building will remain unoccupied during that time.

The Student Center will remain open. However, the air conditioning will remain off during the repairs, which are expected to take several days.…


Bacteria Causing Legionnaires’ Disease Found At Wayne State

Source: https://patch.com, June 7, 2018
By: Jessica Strachan

Legionella, the bacterium that causes Legionnaires’ disease, was discovered in several Wayne State University buildings.

Legionella, the bacterium that causes Legionnaires’ disease, was located in several Wayne State University buildings, according to reports. The university began testing for potential legionella sources after an employee in the Faculty Administration Building was diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease, WDIV reported. Cooling towers on three campus buildings tested positive for legionella.

Remediation in those three towers began immediately Wednesday evening using the prescribed disinfection process, the university said. Legionella was also identified in a private bathroom in the faculty building, in a first-floor men’s bathroom in Scott Hall next to room 1200, and in a men’s bathroom next to room 118 in the Cohn Building. The bathrooms will be closed until they can be further evaluated.…


Philadelphia school to remain closed Friday for mold remediation

Source: http://www.phillyvoice.com, October 12, 2017
By: Andrew Parent

An elementary school in the city’s Germantown section will remain closed Friday as work continues to remove mold found in several of its classrooms.

About 80 percent of the remediation work at John B. Kelly Elementary School had been completed as of early Thursday afternoon, according to the School District of Philadelphia.

Trace amounts of mold were the result of issues with the building’s heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system, according to the district, which was alerted to contamination on Wednesday.

An environmental remediation contractor began work to remove the mold Wednesday afternoon and had been expected to finish the job Thursday evening, the district said.

The district said the school will not reopen until it is mold-free.

Faculty members will again report Friday to the Hill-Freedman World Academy, 1100 E. Mt. Pleasant St.

The district plans to give an update to parents and staff no later than 5 p.m. Sunday.…


More mold found in Cheltenham schools

Source: http://www.philly.com, October 10, 2017
By: Kristen A. Graham

Monroe Township in Gloucester County isn’t the only district coping with a mold problem in one of its schools.

Cheltenham, where mold caused years of problems and ultimately forced the school district to shut and rebuild one of its middle schools, has had another mold outbreak.

Cheltenham High School’s library was closed this week after mold was found there, said Steve Greenbaum, a district spokesman.

The problem was discovered when a staffer who worked in the library complained of feeling sick. Cheltenham contracted with an environmental engineering firm, which found mold in the air and on many of the library’s books. Immediate remediation was suggested.

The district shut the library as of Monday and is accelerating a project to renovate the library and replace its HVAC system. It will remain closed through the renovation, a process that is expected to last into the spring.

A six-point plan to remediate the mold is underway, officials said — from removing and replacing ceiling tiles to using special filters and vacuums to clean and purify the books and rooms.

Greenbaum said it was not immediately clear how much the remediation and renovation would cost.

The rest of the school is unaffected, Cheltenham officials said in information sent to parents. The library’s HVAC system is self-contained, so its air was not spread to other areas in the building.

“Families will be notified if additional mold testing within the high school yields problematic results,” the district said.

No mold was found in the library when it was cleaned and prepared for students prior to the start of the school year, officials said, and no one reported any possible problems until the staffer disclosed her illness recently.

While the library is closed, school officials have made alternate spaces available for students to study, take exams, seek help for computer repairs, and print documents.…


Contentious school board meeting held to discuss mold mess

Source: http://www.nj.com, October 10, 2017
By: Chris Franklin

The mold controversy that has become a concern for many residents who live in the Monroe Township School District found its way to the Williamstown High School auditorium Monday. The hall, which holds over 1,020 people was so packed that the township fire marshal had to tell people to line up outside in the hallways.

Earlier in the day, the school district announced that the every school in the district will be closed for the rest of the week as outside contractors begin surveying the school and seeing if mold is above acceptable levels in the district’s six buildings. The Holly Glen Elementary School was closed last Thursday after mold counts were deemed excessive.

The emergency Monroe Township Board of Education meeting was at times contentious. In a scene that resembled a rally, parents and students in the crowd voiced their displeasure, trying to find out the cause of the mold and asking questions as to how long the board knew about the mold as well as who should be held responsible.

TTI Environmental and All Risk are the two companies that will be working together to remove the mold and clean the buildings. TTI Environmental Vice President of Consulting Timothy Popp was at the meeting to go over the process of how the buildings will be inspected and tested for mold while All Risk Senior Vice President Lou Crisei said a crew of 40 to 50 people would be brought in to clean. TTI would then come back in and retest to make sure it is safe.…


Lead-Based Paint Is a “Pollutant” within CGL Pollution Exclusion

Source: http://www.constructionrisk.com, August 2017
By: Kent Holland

Where lead-based paint was ingested by a tenant’s child, the tenant sued her landlord for injuries allegedly sustained by the child. The landlord tendered the claim to its commercial general liability (CGL) insurer who, instead of defending the case, filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a determination that the pollution exclusion of the CGL policy barred coverage for the alleged injuries. The Owner held that, although not specifically listed in the pollution definition as a “pollutant,” lead-based paint is, in fact, a “pollutant” within the meaning of the policy. The policy’s pollution exclusion was, therefore, applicable, and the insurer had no duty to defend and indemnify the landlord. See Georgia Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Smith, 298 Ga. 716, 784 S.E.2d 422 (2016).

The terms of the CGL policy required the insurer “to pay those sums that the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of ‘bodily injury’ or ‘property damage’” … “only if: (1) the ‘bodily injury’ or ‘property damage’ is caused by an ‘occurrence’ that takes place ….” An occurrence is defined as “an accident.” Coverage was subject to exclusions, including the pollution exclusion, which provided that the insurance does not apply to “(1) ‘[b]odily injury’ or ‘property damage’ arising out of the actual, alleged or threatened discharge, dispersal, seepage, migration, release or escape of ‘pollutants’: (a) [a]t or from any premises, site or location which is or was at any time owned or occupied by, or rented or loaned to, any insured.”…


UPMC sued again by family of patient who died after mold infection

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com, April 20, 2017
By: Sean D. Hamill

Katherine Landman had already benefited from one bone-marrow transplant from her younger brother, Paul, three years earlier when her acute myeloid leukemia came back in July 2015.

“She was doing real well until then,” her father, Lenny Boyce, said Thursday.

The 44-year-old New Castle mother of two college-age kids returned to UPMC Shadyside for a work-up and her doctors quickly decided that she needed another transplant. This time the bone marrow would come from her older brother, Louis, and preparations began for the procedure.

“But that never came about because she got this infection,” Mr. Boyce said.

The infection was a particularly deadly form of mold – rhizopus —- that had gotten into her sinuses sometime after she was admitted to Shadyside, according to the wrongful death and negligence lawsuit her husband, Steve, filed Thursday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court against UPMC and Paris Cleaners, the company that cleans UPMC’s linens.

In August 2015, she had two surgeries to attempt to remove the infection from her sinus cavity. But the surgeries could not stop its spread and Ms. Landman died Oct. 11, 2015.…


