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Can we trust that all is well with the mold situation in this school? Time will tell.
'Black Mold' Found In Moon High School
KDKA - Pittsburg,PA*
http://kdka.com/topstories/local_story_247213428.html
MOON Workers plan to sweep Moon Area High School today searching for
signs of a potentially dangerous type of mold.
School officials say "black mold" was found and as a result they
closed off a stairwell and two bathrooms.
Allegheny County Health Department says inspectors will be there
along with school officials.
The department says there's a very small chance the mold would get
into the ventilation system and spread throughout the school
As a precaution, the district will test the entire school for the
mold.
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2 Pittsburgh-Area Schools Detect Mold In Classrooms
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/14051857/detail.html
POSTED: 4:02 pm EDT September 5, 2007
UPDATED: 5:45 pm EDT September 5, 2007
Two local school districts share a similar challenge as classes begin for the year.
Mold has been detected in four first-grade classrooms at Chartiers Valley Primary School in Collier Township.
Teachers and staff preparing for classes last week were the first to notice the mold.
After they complained to the administration about air quality on the ground floor, the district brought in a private testing firm that confirmed low-levels of mold.
Parents were notified by letter on Friday as the district sealed off the rooms.
While the school remains open and the district maintains students were never at risk, some neighbors who heard the news still feared the worst:
"I think it is terrible," said neighbor Deb Tropeck. "Kids these days have enough to put up with."
While testing continues, school officials said they have "engaged a team of experts to investigate and advise the district on a permanent solution that will prevent the growth of mold in the primary school."
Also, part of Moon High School is under wraps after mold was found in a bathroom and stairwell.
School officials said the toxic mold is contained, and the district is working on a cleanup plan.
Classes at both schools remain in session.
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Moon Area deals with moldy high school
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_525831.html
By Tim Puko
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Moon Area School District administrators are meeting with consultants this morning about how to remove a toxic mold from the district's high school.
Officials last week discovered the mold in a stairwell and adjacent restrooms on the first floor, according to a letter high school Principal Michael A. Hauser sent to parents Tuesday. Officials had those areas sealed off to keep the mold from spreading and the school remains open.
District officials have been working with PSI Engineering Testing and Consulting since the discovery and plan to have the rest of the school evaluated. Mold concentration in the air around the infected area is still lower than normal outdoor levels, school board President Mark E. Limbruner said.
"It's important for us to clean it up, but it's not an emergency situation where it's going to spread throughout the rest of the building," he added.
Tim Puko can be reached at
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or 412-320-7975.
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Moon acting
to control black mold
By: Kristen Garrett, Times Staff
09/05/2007
http://www.timesonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18788318&BRD=2305&PAG=461&dept_id=478569&rfi=6
MOON TWP. - Moon Area School District officials said they have come up with a plan to take care of a small patch of black mold that was found in an area of the high school.
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Dave Zazac, spokesman for the Allegheny County Health Department, said department inspectors examined the school Wednesday and found a very small spot of mold in a first-floor restroom. "It's pretty tiny. You actually have to get up on the fixture to see it," Zazac said.
What was noticeable were areas of bubbled plaster in two restrooms and areas outside the restrooms that are indicative of water damage, Zazac said.
Superintendent Donna Milanovich said a custodian working in the high school Aug. 29 noticed a patch of bad plaster on the ceiling of a first-floor back hallway. The custodian immediately notified school administrators, who had PSI Engineering Testing and Consulting perform an air-quality test Aug. 30.
The district received the results of the air-quality test Friday, showing a relatively small amount of toxic mold, known as Stachybotrys, in the building, Milanovich said.
School did not start until Tuesday, and the stairwell and adjacent restrooms were cordoned off to prevent people from entering the area and sealed to prevent any mold spores from circulating through the building, she said.
"The situation is in hand right now. There's no cause for any alarm," Zazac said. "There are no imminent health hazards for the students, faculty or staff. The school is doing all of the right things."
Milanovich said she met with PSI and a restoration company, who recommended a process to get rid of the mold, clean the area and replace the damaged plaster.
Work to find and repair the source of the water leak will start Saturday, when there are no staff members or students in the building, Milanovich said.
Kristen Garrett can be reached online at
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©Beaver County Times Allegheny Times 2007
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http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/southwest/s_525943.html
Moon mold will be cleaned Saturday
By Tim Puko
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Toxic mold will be removed from Moon Area High School on Saturday while students and faculty are gone for the weekend, school officials said Wednesday.
An Allegheny County Health Department inspector visited the school yesterday and district officials met with consultants. The mold was discovered last week near a water-damaged area of the first floor.
Officials sealed off the area, including a stairwell and two bathrooms, while the school remained open. District officials have been working with PSI Engineering Testing and Consulting since the discovery and plan to have the rest of the school evaluated.
"They're doing everything right," Health Department spokesman Dave Zazac said. "There is no outstanding health threat at this time."
This is at least the second appearance of mold at the school in four years. Dripping water lines caused mold to form on the ceiling above the cafeteria in 2003. Officials replaced tiles and insulated piping.
The Health Department has mandated similar corrections to water-damaged parts of the ceiling this year. Ceilings outside two first-floor bathrooms and inside one of them had bubbled plaster, which is evidence of water damage.
However, the mold growth was small and unlikely to spread, according to officials. The spot of mold from a strain called stachybotrys was so small that inspectors had to climb closer to the ceiling in order to spot it, Zazac said.
"Depending on the sensitivity of the person, if they're mold sensitive they can have a reaction," he said. "But this spot was so tiny, the chances of that are pretty remote right now."
Mold concentration in the air around the infected area was still lower than normal outdoor levels, said school board President Mark E. Limbruner.
"It's important for us to clean it up, but it's not an emergency situation where it's going to spread throughout the rest of the building," he said.
Tim Puko can be reached at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or 412-320-7975.
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Black mold removed
from Moon school
http://www.timesonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18802979&BRD=2305&PAG=461&dept_id=478569&rfi=6
By: Bobbi Mercadante, Times Staff
09/10/2007
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MOON TWP. - It's all clean at Moon Area High School.
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Moon Area Superintendent Donna Milanovich said Monday that the small area of Stachybotrys, or black mold, found at the Moon Township school by a custodian on Aug. 29 was removed Saturday by a restoration company, Belfor USA of South Fayette Township.
Milanovich said the mold was caused by a significant leak behind a sink in a boys restroom. A plumber was to fix the leak Monday after school hours, she said, and Belfor is to return late this afternoon to patch the wall after the plumbing work is finished.
Moon students returned to school Sept. 4, but district personnel cordoned off the area containing the mold and sealed it to stop any mold spores from circulating outside the enclosed area, according to Milanovich.
In addition, Milanovich said, PSI Engineering Testing and Consulting, who performed an air-quality test Aug. 29 in which the results showed a relatively small amount of toxic mold in the building, performed another test over the weekend with better results. No other areas of dangerous mold were found, and the school's air quality no longer tested positive for Stachybotrys, she said.
Guillermo Cole, spokesman for the Allegheny County Health Department, said his agents saw only one spot of mold on the boys restroom ceiling when they inspected the site last week. He said the agency will next inspect the school on Sept. 20, the deadline the district was given to repair the situation.
Bobbi Mercadante can be reached online at
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©Beaver County Times Allegheny Times 2007
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Moon district repairs mold-fostering leak at high school
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_528806.html
By The Tribune-Review
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Moon Area School District officials passed the Allegheny County Health Department's follow-up inspection this week after a leaky pipe was repaired at the high school that had incubated toxic mold, Superintendent Donna K. Milanovich said Friday.
Workers found more mold in the school recently, but none of it was toxic, she said. School officials compared this year's absentee rates, rumored to be high because of the mold, and found them comparable to last year's, Milanovich said.
"We've corrected the problems that caused that mold, and we don't expect to have any more mold problems within the school," she said. "I know it's just a change of seasons, and I'm sure for all the students coming back to school and being around all those children, the chances of getting a cold is greater."
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