Mold found in the walls of the Jasper Emergency Services Building has halted repairs, as the municipality waits for test results to see whether it’s toxic.
The mold was discovered during routine repairs to the building, that stemmed from a leak.
The mold was discovered after Fire Chief Greg Van Tighem noticed water leaking into his office, and asked the municipality to budget for repairs to the outside of the building.
Those repairs started about two months ago, and included a host of projects, including repainting and resealing windows, fixing leaking downspouts and gutters and repairing some damage from ice falling off the roof.
“Just sort of general maintenance stuff,” explained Gord Hutton, the municipality’s fleet and public works manager.
Part of the project was replacing stucco on the outside of the hose tower, and it was during those repairs that workers noticed the damage was likely caused by water penetrating through the stucco.
That discovery prompted them to open up the interior walls of the tower to determine the extent of the damage. Inside they found the moisture they expected to, but also mold.
“Because of that we stopped any further dismantling, because we were worried about a safe work environment,” Hutton said.
Instead, workers sealed the area with plastic and tape, and had Barrow Safety Services come in and test the toxicity of the mold.
On Nov. 21, the safety services company took air and surface samples of the sites where the mold was visible. It is conducting tests on those samples, and the municipality expects results sometime this week.
According to Van Tighem, there is only a slim chance that the mold is toxic, but both Hutton and the municipality’s Chief Administrative Officer Mark Fercho said they won’t be able to decide how to proceed until the safety of the site is confirmed.
“We don’t feel safe to proceed. We want confirmation from [Barrow] of what kind of mold it is; if it is dangerous at all before we proceed any further. Because a safe work environment is a key thing that we want. Not just for the workers, but also for the workers in the building,” Hutton said.
He added that work is continuing on the other aspects of the project, and has only stopped in the area where the mold was discovered.
According to Van Tighem, if the mold proves to be non-toxic, there shouldn’t be any additional cost to the municipality.
This is because the contractor handling the $40,000 repairs, Glacier Glass Ltd., is working on a fixed-price contract. This means that the municipality will pay the same price regardless of how long the project takes.
Van Tighem explained that the process for neutralizing non-toxic mold is fairly simple, and once it’s completed “you just carry on, and the cost remains the same.”
Of course, if the mold does prove hazardous Van Tighem said the municipality would have to shell out more money, because special procedures would have to be undertaken to get rid of it.
But Hutton explained that, at the end of the day, the most important factor for him is safety.
“We want to make sure that the work environment is safe, and we are proceeding as necessary—and that’s a key for me.”
Trevor Nichols
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