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School
district settles mould lawsuit for $16 million
Environmental
Issues - 12/18/2003 11:59:04 AM
EDINBURG, TX — Last-minute negotiations
between the Edinburg school district and builders of
Economedes High School led to a settlement for more than $16 million
in a mould lawsuit, Harlingen, TX's the
Valley Morning Star reported Thursday.
The school district sued Austin-based Landmark Organization and 19
subcontractors in October 2002 after mould was discovered in the 4-year-old
high school through air quality tests; the school district blamed poor
ventilation and faulty construction, according to the newspaper.
Mould
Worries Real Estate Sector
From
globeandmail.com,
Tuesday, January 21, 2003
ALBERT WARSON, Special to The Globe and Mail
Industry facing more
claims over damage related to sometimes-deadly spores.
Invisible mould spores
drifting freely in and out of commercial buildings, public institutions
and homes are the latest problem to strike the real estate industry.
They have been responsible
for billions of dollars in property damage and lawsuits in the United States
and cases in Canada are becoming more common. The spores can make people
sick and even kill vulnerable patients in hospitals. And they can lurk
anywhere, unlike that other costly menace, asbestos, which is visible and
contained within specific building materials.
In the United States, the
number of mould claims has exploded in recent years.
One major insurer in Texas
reported 12 claims involving mould issues in 1999, 499 the following year
and 10,000 in 2001.
In Canada, hospitals,
school boards, provincial governments, contractors, developers and
building managers are gearing up to combat mould.
Mould, as primordial as
its fungi family, thrives in either wet, humid places or dusty
environments. Toxic mould, as the most dangerous strains are called, can
establish "colonies" within 24 hours.
Mould grows rapidly, like
its mushroom cousins, but unlike mushrooms, the spores or seeds that
perpetuate the species can be dispersed throughout almost any building --
including hospitals.
In July, 2001, Health Canada
issued procedural standards intended to prevent the spread of
construction-related infections in health care facilities. It also
identified 242 cases of infections -- which claimed dozens of patients'
lives -- related to construction or renovations inside or adjacent to
Canadian and U.S. hospitals between 1978 and 1998.
Hospitals are the worst
place for mould to grow, says Bruce Stewart, senior vice-president of Pinchin Environmental Ltd., a consulting firm based in Mississauga. That's
because patients with immune systems compromised by medication and
treatment might inhale mould spores disturbed by construction and develop
life-threatening or fatal fungal infections.
"Buildings accumulate
ambient dust on ceiling tiles, inside air ducts and wall cavities," he
says. "Dust particles blown in and out of buildings always include mould
spores."
Mr. Stewart can verify
that mould awareness is growing. Pinchin now takes on about 500
mould-related testing and cleanup jobs a year involving all types of
buildings in Ontario
and Manitoba. Three years ago it handled only 100 cases. The figures don't
include similar work by affiliated companies in the other provinces.
Glenn Gibson, chief
executive officer of Crawford Adjusters Canada, the Mississauga-based
subsidiary of a U.S. insurance services company, says he was "shocked"
last year to learn the extent of mould litigation in Canada. While
speaking to 120 commercial and residential claims and property managers in
Toronto about toxic mould claims, he asked how many audience members had a
claim in progress. About three-quarters of them raised their hands.
Last May, a committee of
the Insurance Bureau of Canada, a national insurance industry trade
association, recommended that insurers tighten up wording in their
policies concerning mould-related damage or injury. It noted that
skyrocketing claims in the United States, mainly involving water and flood
damages to residences could spill into Canada.
"The insurance industry
does not want to provide coverage for maintenance type issues, like
continuous leakage," says Dave Way, coordinator of the IBC's standards
and practices committee. "Damage has to be sudden and accidental, like a
sewer backup."
Meanwhile, the
Ottawa-based Canadian Construction Association is expecting a report this
spring from a task force it set up to study the liability implications of
mould for contractors. Jeff Morrison, the CCA's director of
communications, says the task force will also create guidelines on how to
minimize mould in new construction and clean away old mould during
renovations.
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