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Monday Morning Mold December 20, 2004

Mold in the Media

December 20, 2004

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Mold Stories

-- New Ulm schools approves $2.85 million agreement in mold lawsuit (Duluth News Tribune, MN - Dec 17, 2004)

-- Ventilation is key to control of mold, rot (Indianapolis Star, IN - Dec 17, 2004)

-- Class-Action Suit Filed Over Hilton Mold - Mold Cleanup Cost Hilton $55 Million (Hawaii Channel.com, HI - Dec 16, 2004)

-- Nancy Davis Follow-Up: Pepperell mold victim now fighting for others (Lowell Sun, MA - Dec 13, 2004)

-- More Nancy Davis Follow-Up: Mold victim lost her house, but not her zeal (Pepperell Free Press, MA - Dec 15, 2004)

-- Celebrity Mold: Schwarzeneggers Sued for Fraud

-- Mold Education: Erotium/Eurotium

-- Court Mold: Poisonous gas found at court (Exeter News-Letter, NH - Dec 17, 2004)

-- School Mold: Failure: Southern High mold problem is public health issue that warrants priority (Agana Pacific Daily News, GU - Dec 17, 2004)

-- Mold & Insurance: Insurance renewals more than bill; read fine print (Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL - Dec 17, 2004)

-- Mold & Insurance (Charley, Frances, Ivan & Jeanne Follow-Up): 170,000 storm claims still unsettled (The News-Press, FL - Dec 18, 2004)

-- Mold & Technology: Megola Announces Signing of LOI for Purchase of UV Innovation's Air and Water Disinfection Product Line (PrimeZone, CA - Dec 15, 2004)

-- Mold & Technology: Moisture, Mold Building Forensics Expert David Odom Joins Liberty Building Diagnostics Group (Market Wire - Dec 15, 2004)

-- Mold & Litigation: Tower plaintiffs waiting for money (Times Picayune, LA - Dec 18, 2004)

-- For Fun: FACE/OFF - Sharon Stone (The Daily Show - Dec 15, 2004)

Dear C,

Good morning! One of the more interesting anomolies in this week's Monday Morning Mold is in the report on the Class Action Certification against Hilton Hawaiian. The published articles mention that the mold is Erotium, which the articles say is common in Hawaii. My reaction to that was "Huh?" The spelling is actually Eurotium. Please see "Mold Education" for more information about Eurotium spp.

This week's introductory photo is of Eurotium herbarorium, from the schimmel- schimmelpilze.de website. This is a German website of a firm that does indoor mold testing. I don't speak German, so I used www.babblefish.com's automatic webpage translation service. The translation came up with such amusing insights such as "With the proof of the mold fungi on stricken material a differentiation of the kind of mold fungus is the center of attention for the evaluation of the health endangerment as well as the extent and the urgency of the reorganization." Also, "Frequently stricken materials in the interior are e.g.

I'm sure the site makes sense in German, but it's a hoot with a machine translation.

New Ulm schools approves $2.85 million agreement in mold lawsuit (Duluth News Tribune, MN - Dec 17, 2004)

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NEW ULM, Minn. - The New Ulm School District will get $2.85 million from contractors who have agreed to settle their part of a lawsuit that stems from the discovery of mold after 1997 and 1998 school construction projects.

The district had sued several contractors in 2002, arguing that defective designs, defective construction, failure to report problems and other issues caused the mold growth.

Ventilation is key to control of mold, rot (Indianapolis Star, IN - Dec 17, 2004)

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Dear Tim: I'm remodeling a second-floor master bathroom and will be installing a new ceiling- mounted ventilation fan. The fan itself will only be 3 feet from an exterior wall, so I could easily extend an exhaust pipe through the attic and have it terminate at the soffit overhang. Do you see any problems with this method? I can extend the exhaust pipe toward a roof ventilation hole, but I am worried that water might condense and run backward toward the fan. What would you do? -- Larry L., Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Dear Reader: I can only think of one other method that might cause more damage and destruction than the two methods you have proposed. Some builders, subcontractors and unknowing do-it-yourselfers simply let bathroom exhaust fans blow air directly into the attic space. Talk with any seasoned certified home inspector and she/he will tell you tales of horrible attic mold and wood rot in the roof framing and roof sheathing.

Class-Action Suit Filed Over Hilton Mold - Mold Cleanup Cost Hilton $55 Million (Hawaii Channel.com, HI - Dec 16, 2004)

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HONOLULU -- The problem of mold at the Hilton Hawaiian Village has resurfaced again -- this time in a class-action lawsuit. Guests who stayed at its Kalia Tower during the time a mold problem was discovered filed the lawsuit against the hotel.

Circuit Court Judge Sabrina McKenna Thursday certified a class-action lawsuit filed by guests who stayed at the hotel between June 14 and July 23, 2002, who want their money back on the rooms for which they paid.

Nancy Davis Follow-Up: Pepperell mold victim now fighting for others (Lowell Sun, MA - Dec 13, 2004)

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PEPPERELL Nancy and Rick Davis stood naked outside their ranch home last December in 17 degree weather. Forced to shed all personal belongings because toxic mold infested their Shawnee Road home, the Davises quickly discarded their contaminated clothes in a plastic decontamination chamber set up on their front lawn.

About a half dozen workers, clad in haz-mat suits, supervised the Davises as they put on new clothes they had just purchased at Target. They were then ushered off to their new home, an empty apartment only a mile away.

More Nancy Davis Follow-Up: Mold victim lost her house, but not her zeal (Pepperell Free Press, MA - Dec 15, 2004)

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PEPPERELL -- Fresh off a phone conversation with Massachusetts Sen. Robert O'Leary (D-Barnstable), Nancy Davis was excited Monday afternoon. "I can't believe that he called me," Davis said of O'Leary. "He told me he is very interested in the work I've been doing generating interest in mold problems." O'Leary has sponsored legislation to create a consortium that will gather information about mold, diseases it promotes, and its relevance to home ownership.

"I told him I think we need Congressional hearings," Davis said. Last Thursday, Davis had told her story about losing the family's Shawnee Road, Pepperell, home in a Boston City Council public hearing. Davis had become gravely ill from 32 varieties of pervasive mold growing in her home that left her with multiple types of asthma and bone marrow loss from the steroids used to fight them.

Celebrity Mold: Schwarzeneggers Sued for Fraud

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LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - The Governator has been sued again, but not for harassment. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver have been named in a suit by lawyer Susan Loggans, who claims the couple lied about damage to a $7.95 million Pacific Palisades home they sold to her on Sept. 28.

Mold Education: Erotium/Eurotium

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From the Editor: Newspapers may be saying Eurotium is extremely common, but information about it isn't. This is what I found. Kingdom: Fungi. Phylum Ascomycota Order: Eurotiales. Family: Trichocomaceae. Species: Eurotomium. For comparison purposes, Aspergillus spp. and Pennicillium spp. are part of the Trichocomaceae family. (Source: Introductory Mycology (1996) Alexopoulos, C.J.; Mims, C.W.; and Blackwell, M. Chapter 11, page 294 to 322). Eurotium is a telemorphic (sexual) state of Aspergillus. In other words, there were little mold organisms, complete with sexual organs, having sex at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The estimated 160 Aspergillus species are anamorphic (asexual), meaning that it grows new little condida.

According to www.doctorfungus.com and The Aspergillus Website (http://www.aspergillus.man.ac.uk/) there are at least the following species of Eurotium:

Court Mold: Poisonous gas found at court (Exeter News-Letter, NH - Dec 17, 2004)

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HAMPTON - Saying that the Hampton and Exeter district courts are unsafe and causing health problems for employees, the state Court Accreditation Committee voted Thursday to move the personnel of the two courts to temporary locations.

At a meeting of area court and community officials in the Hampton courthouse, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Broderick said he visited numerous court facilities in the last few months and what he saw in Hampton and Exeter was very disturbing.

School Mold: Failure: Southern High mold problem is public health issue that warrants priority (Agana Pacific Daily News, GU - Dec 17, 2004)

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During a meeting of Southern High School's parent- teacher organization Thursday evening, Department of Education Superintendent Juan Flores said that the recurring mold problem at the school could result in students being relocated after the Christmas break.

The mold poses a public health threat, and the school's air quality needs to be tested. If it doesn't pass standards, students, teachers and school employees can't return until the air quality improves.

Mold & Insurance: Insurance renewals more than bill; read fine print (Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL - Dec 17, 2004)

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DAYTONA BEACH -- Cancellation of automatic mold insurance. Higher deductibles on wind damage. Tighter rules for tree claims. And no more freeze protection for pools and hot tubs.

These are just some of the changes Floridians will learn about if they take the trouble to read the homeowner's insurance renewal notices being issued in the closing weeks of 2004. Typically the notices are presented as booklets, leaflets or small inserts enclosed with the bill for coverage during 2005.

Mold & Insurance (Charley, Frances, Ivan & Jeanne Follow-Up): 170,000 storm claims still unsettled (The News-Press, FL - Dec 18, 2004)

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TALLAHASSEE - Almost one in five Floridians whose homes were damaged by hurricanes up to four months ago have yet to come to a settlement with their insurers.

Information released by the state Office of Insurance Regulation shows more than 170,000 claims remain open. The policyholders who filed them are increasingly frustrated.

Mold & Technology: Megola Announces Signing of LOI for Purchase of UV Innovation's Air and Water Disinfection Product Line (PrimeZone, CA - Dec 15, 2004)

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CORUNNA, Ontario, Dec. 15, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Megola, Inc. (OTCBB:MGOA), a leading solution provider in physical water treatment, microbiological control, wastewater treatment and air purification, announced that it has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to acquire the intellectual property rights to an extensive line of ultraviolet (UV) air and water disinfection units to compliment its existing air and water treatment products. The all-stock transaction should be completed within the next 90 days.

"Megola has dedicated the lion's share of its time and resources over the last year to activities that should help the company grow and build shareholder equity much more rapidly than otherwise possible. Although this long-term focus has limited our short-term marketing efforts to a degree, we know that by putting in the time and effort to establish valuable relationships with strategic partners around the world, Megola should be able to grow rapidly and reap the resulting rewards for many years to come. This planned acquisition is a perfect example of a move that we expect to pay huge dividends as we position Megola as a major player in the growing multi-billion dollar air and water treatment industry," says Joel Gardner, Chief Executive Officer of Megola, Inc.

Mold & Technology: Moisture, Mold Building Forensics Expert David Odom Joins Liberty Building Diagnostics Group (Market Wire - Dec 15, 2004)

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ORLANDO, FL -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 12/15/2004 -- Liberty Building Diagnostics Group (LBDG) is pleased to welcome J. David Odom as a principal and senior building forensics consultant. "We are very pleased that David will be lending his considerable expertise and experience to LBDG. By virtue of his international reputation, our clients know that with him on their side, they will have the most experienced team in the US for solving and preventing moisture-related mold problems," said George H. DuBose, LBDG's vice president of consulting services.

Mr. Odom also specializes in evaluating heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) and building envelope systems performance, designing remedial repairs to correct moisture and mold problems, litigation support and expert witness services. Prior to joining LBDG, Mr. Odom lead CH2M Hill's building forensic and expert witness practice for most of his 26 years with the firm.

Mold & Litigation: Tower plaintiffs waiting for money (Times Picayune, LA - Dec 18, 2004)

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Although the original settlement was reached in April, nearly 700 state employees who sued owners of the Plaza Tower office building claiming exposure to mold and asbestos won't see any money until August, a special master in the case said.

State workers are awaiting distribution of a $4.25 million settlement from six insurance companies that had policies covering the corporations that owned the 44-story building on Howard Avenue. The settlement admits "no wrongdoing or liability of any kind" on behalf of the insurers or owners. A seventh insurance carrier has not settled.

For Fun: FACE/OFF - Sharon Stone (The Daily Show - Dec 15, 2004)

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Actresses and plastic surgeons. Normally, they're symbiotic best friends. Now, though, one Hollywood starlet wants the world to know that the lines on her face aren't from a botched face-lift, but rather years of hard, hard living. Actress Sharon Stone claims a Beverly Hills doctor slandered and libeled her by allegedly telling magazines that he performed cosmetic surgery on her famous face. Also, it was this doctor who told her co-starring in "Catwoman" would be a really good idea.

Stone has filed a lawsuit against the doctor and is seeking damages because such allegations damaged her reputation and hurt her ability to find work. That is, excluding the TV show "Nip/Tuck," whose producers have already offered Stone a recurring role as they adapt her story into next season's plots. The lawsuit cites articles in Us Weekly and In Touch magazines as raising the question of whether Stone had a face-lift by plastic surgeon Dr. Renato Calabria, setting the dangerous precedent of considering Us Weekly and In Touch respectable publications.

Monday Morning Mold Archives

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·  Hyde Mulvihill APC

·  Monday Morning Mold Archives - 2004

·  Monday Morning Mold Archives - 2003

Contact Information

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phone: 626-358-7471

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