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Lake Zurich schools' janitors file complaint of toxic mold
IL janitors file toxic mold complaint - find out what they said and read other stories on the topic!
By Lisa Black | Tribune reporter
April 18, 2008
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Two janitors who say they fear they worked in unsafe conditions in Lake Zurich schools filed complaints with state and federal agencies Thursday that allege the buildings are contaminated with toxic mold.
The janitors, employees of Aramark Corp., are represented by the Service Employees International Union Local 1. Two residents and a former cafeteria worker joined in their complaint after janitor Gustavo Gomez reported seeing green and yellow mold on ceiling tiles he was asked to remove last summer at the new Whitney Elementary School.
Pupils and staff moved classes into the building last fall after the former Whitney Elementary School next door flooded and was closed after mold and asbestos was discovered.
Union officials said the janitors filed the complaint with five agencies because there is no one governmental agency with clear jurisdiction over mold in schools. The agencies are the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois Department of Labor.
School officials say they conducted tests throughout the fall and as recently as March 21 and found no evidence of unhealthy air quality or mold.
They say the janitors never complained about seeing mold until seven months after they worked in the building.
The company the school district hired to do the testing, ENVIRON, is expected to provide a written report on its latest findings soon, said Jim Jennings, school district spokesman.
"We don't gamble with the health of our children. We don't gamble with the health of our staff members," Jennings said.
"For some organization out of Chicago to come in and say that and use our children as a political football is bothersome."
Union employees have held two protests outside Lake Zurich schools questioning the school's air quality.
"I am requesting that your office conduct an inspection of my workplace before people become seriously ill," Gomez said in the complaint.
Others who filed the complaint include janitor Fermin Bedolla, former cafeteria worker Jennifer Axelrod, Hawthorn Woods resident Virginia Johnson and Carolyn Fitzgerald of Lake Zurich, who moved her children out of District 95 because of her concerns.
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By Madhu Krishnamurthy | Daily Herald Staff Contact writer Published: 4/19/2008 12:13 AM
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Two Lake Zurich Unit District 95 janitors, a former cafeteria worker and two area residents claim there is evidence of potentially toxic mold in the new May Whitney Elementary School.
The group filed complaints with five state and federal agencies late Thursday. They cite concerns that results of air quality tests done at the school may not be reliable.
District 95 officials said Friday toxic mold has never been found in the building, and they continue to monitor the situation.
The former middle school, also known as the Annex, was mothballed for nearly a year and used for storage until the district was forced to convert it into an elementary school.
August storms flooded the original May Whitney Elementary, next door to the Annex, leading to the discovery of stachybotrys, a toxic strain of mold, and asbestos.
District officials closed May Whitney on Aug. 16 and relocated its 429 students and 58 full-time staff to the Annex.
Gustavo Gomez, a janitor with District 95's contractor Aramark, said he helped clean the Annex last summer.
"When I arrived at the building, the first thing I noticed was a strong, bad smell," he said in his complaint. "When I removed the (ceiling) tiles, I saw that they were very old, and they were covered in what appeared to be yellow and green mold. Once the tiles were removed, there was dust everywhere."
Complainants say they fear students, teachers and school service workers continue to be exposed to dangerous levels of mold daily.
Since no one government agency has sole jurisdiction over mold in schools, complaints were filed with the Illinois Department of Public Health, state Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Labor, and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
District 95 spokesman Jim Jennings said janitors never informed the district of the suspected mold problem.
"We can find no record of this Aramark custodian either informing the school district or Aramark about this alleged mold," he said.
Jennings said the district has been testing the air quality of the Annex since before students moved in.
"We have found no indication of mold through either air quality testing or sample testing of areas in the school," he said.
Lake Zurich parent Carolyn Fitzgerald, who removed her children from District 95 schools after the mold issue emerged, said those test results did not make sense so she consulted the state public health department.
"The IDPH says that District 95 is following its own guidelines, rather than the EPA," she said.
Fitzgerald is circulating a petition, with help from state Rep. Ed Sullivan, asking District 95 to conduct a public hearing on mold concerns. More than 100 residents have signed the petition.
Jennings said the most recent Annex air quality test done March 21 by the firm ENVIRON came back clean.
The school board will review a written report of the results at its regular meeting Thursday.
"There is no way that we would ever knowingly put children or adults into a school where we believe there was hazardous mold or any other health hazard," Jennings said
