Mold, asbestos samples doubted
By Charles N. Brown, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Parents monitoring mold and asbestos testing at Moss Side Elementary School in Monroeville are questioning the accuracy of the results.The school had been closed from February 2002 to January because of mold that was discovered in the building. During the initial cleanup, asbestos also was found.
More than 300 students were moved to other schools - primarily Moss Side Middle School and University Park Elementary School - while mold and asbestos were removed from the roof and classrooms at Moss Side Elementary. The cleanup cost more than $850,000.
Greg Graham, one of four parents on the oversight committee, said tests were taken in February, March and last month while windows and doors in the school were open. That, he said, prevents accurate readings.
"According to (the state Department of Environmental Protection), the school must be closed for at least 12 hours leading up to the testing," Graham said. "Standards are not being followed. I feel that (the Gateway School Board) and this administration owes the public proper testing to be done at Moss Side Elementary."
DEP representatives could not be reached for comment.
Harvey Smith, Gateway business manager, said he would review the information presented by Graham and will check with Allegheny County and the state to find out if there are requirements to have buildings closed for a certain amount of time before testing. Kimball & Associates officials told him that they follow noted standards, Smith said.
The school board hired L. Robert Kimball & Associates as air-quality manager for the mold- and asbestos-removal project. The company's mold-tests results and information from AGX - the firm hired to remove asbestos - were compared with testing conducted by the Allegheny County Health Department, which confirmed that the school was safe to reopen.
Tom Blank, vice president and operations manager for Kimball & Associates, said he has heard the parents' concern about windows and doors being open, but it is not relevant.
"It's really not a valid issue," Blank said. "You run the tests during a normal day. (The results) are fine. All the doors and windows were closed during the last of the samples."
School board President Bob Gale said he spoke with Graham about his concerns and also with administrators. Nothing appears to have been done wrong, he said.
"Based on the information I got from Dr. Steward and the Health Department, they are accurate," Gale said, referring to Assistant Superintendent Cleveland Steward. "If there were anything that was unsafe, they wouldn't have the students in there."
Gale said the board will, however, continue to look into the testing situation to determine whether proper procedures were followed. It will cross-check the information that Graham presented with that from contractors and administrators.
Kimball was hired to conduct air-quality tests for at least six months after the school reopened.
The parents - Graham, Madelyn Havrilla, Lori DiLucente and Barb English - were worried about health problems caused by mold and asbestos at the school and wanted to keep an eye on air-quality testing in the building.
