According to the Maine agriculture commissioner, mold is afflicting raspberries, beans. “The wind blows mold spores and inoculates everything”

The incessant July rains have ruined much of the crop. Continued rain could be ruinous for both raspberries and green beans. The state has received above-normal rainfall both for the year and the month of July — when raspberries and beans reach maturity.

Mold was discovered in the basement of the village’s police department. The village hasn’t been fined–YET.

It could take up to two months before the basement will be open again to personnel. Cleanup work us expected to cost between $15,000 and $20,000. Two companies have assessed the water damage and extent of the mold growth.

Terre Haute North High School tested their water which was fine, but found mold in a crawlspace. The mold is being removed during the summer and should be gone before school starts, according to the risk manager of Vigo County School.

A huge real estate problem in So. Cal (and many other areas of the US) are those hidden toxins. From (24,000 in Los Angeles and Orange counties) leaky oil wells in backyards, solid-waste landfills near homes and (83 in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura ) abandoned meth labs to superfund proximity, a real concern about a new property is exactly how polluted the location could be.

You can always go online do a (brownfield) superfund search, but what about the onetime military base, dry cleaner, former factory loft? And don’t forget about mold… Now you can get a detailed environmental hazards report before purchasing a property; and if you do choose to buy, get multiple bids on remediation.

For years, Bobby Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Mary, have battled a deadly fungus that had infested their Westchester County home. But finally, they gave up the fight and moved to a rental while they raze their property.

They are replacing it with a state-of-the-art green home whose construction will be supervised by “This Old House” star Bob Vila for a 13-part TV series.

One question though.

Is recycling every nail and piece of plasterboard from their old, mold-invested place really the smartest thing to do? It may bring a whole new meaning to “green” building.

They will also be using recycled materials from a Dutchess County mental institution.

The building at 25-A N. Main St. has been deemed uninhabitable due to “excessive mold”; inspectors found a leaky roof, which contributed to mold and smoke and water damage from a nearby fire. The deadline for compliance is Saturday, July 26. As of Wednesday, carpet was removed and painting had begun.

Vicki Rabe, who owns Victoria’s Pet Nutrition Center and Boutique, left the building due to mold and maintenance issues, including a leaky roof and spreading mold. Rabe suffered fatigue, illness, coughing and respiratory problems as the mold grew worse.

After apparent mold was discovered during routine maintenance of 11 mobile homes at two central Indiana mobile home parks, Federal Emergency Management Agency notified residents of FEMA-provided mobile homes that mold was believed to have grown on the exterior water heater compartments. That discovery leads to mold inspections of 700 other mobile homes brought out of storage for Indiana’s June flood victims.

The access panels were clad in aluminum, but the interior was drywall, a material which makes the panels prone to becoming damp and fostering the growth of mold.

There was no mold in the trailers at all and none in the living space, only in the water heater compartments.

Familiar news rears its head again: Daniel Island homes are contaminated with mold and have the families tangled up in a legal battle with mega home builder D.R. Horton. Toxic mold drives out the Allen family; the home needs upwards of $200,000 of remediation. Read more.

Long time health inspector and environmental health specialist Dan Pauluk was literally eaten alive from the inside out by toxic mold, aspergillus and stachybotrys. According to his death certificate, he died from mixed mold micotoxicosis, a medical term meaning mold poisoning.

There were water leaks over his desk; in the Health District’s main auditorium parts of the ceiling collapsed. The roof design channeled water back into the existing roof which was never repaired.

The Pauluk family has an ongoing lawsuit with evidence dating back to 1998; the Health District’s own studies show the presence of mold in the building and the need for remediation.

“The regulations state that you will vacate the building, remove all occupants and then relocate them to another building and that no one will go back in that building without a full respirator and a moon suit and it will be cleaned up according to EPA standards.”

In 2004, Dan requested to be be relocated away from the building until the mold was addressed. Nine months supervisors noted another roof leak over Dan’s desk.
His doctor sent letters saying his illness “is a natural conclusion of his exposure to the toxic mold found present at his workplace.” Dan was never relocated away from the mold.

Dan still was not moved.

On July 17, 2007, 12 noon Dan was pronounced dead. The federal lawsuit that says the Southern Nevada Health District failed to protect their own employees in their own building may be continuing for a long time.

Tricothecene mycotoxins (toxic mold) grows on walls, behind walls, in the ceilings, under the carpets, in ductwork and crawnspaces.

Why do experts suggest you need to test after remediation to make sure it has all been removed?

Because common evidence of trichothecene toxicity are depression of immune responses and nausea, vomiting plus the usual respiratory culprits. Trichothecene mycotoxicosis was first recognized to be connected with alimentary toxic aleukia in the USSR in 1932. It is still dangerous but no longer has a 60% mortality rate.

Facts

• Trichothecenes are 40 times more toxic when inhaled than when consumed orally.
• Trichothecenes are found in air samples collected during the drying and milling process on farms, in the ventilation systems of private houses and office buildings, and on the walls of houses with high humidity.
• Trichothecene is sometimes part of the “sick building syndrome”.
• Trichothecenes include mycotoxins produced by Fusarium, Myrothecium, Trichoderma, Trichothecium, Cephalosporium, Verticimonosporium, and Stachybotrys.
• Mycotoxin analyses of bulk environmental samples are now commercially available through environmental microbiology laboratories in the United States.