City workers say fungus has returned

Art Nadler

Tuesday, Aug. 3, 1999 | 11:11 a.m.

City employees at the Las Vegas Development Services Center think their building is making them sick.

The facility, located at 731 S. Fourth St., houses the city's departments of Planning, Building and Safety and a portion of Public Works.

In two meetings last spring, about 25 employees complained of headaches, itchy eyes, sore throats, runny noses and flu-like symptoms, and city administrators responded by cleaning the building.

The problem appeared to have been cured.

Now workers say their symptoms have returned.

Last month's severe floods damaged the building and renewed employees' concerns. Another meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, according to Rick Anderson, city human resources director.

Anderson said water-soaked carpeting had been cleaned on the first floor and some drywall replaced following the July 8 flood. He said the building, which still has sand bags around it, was given a clean bill of health by an industrial hygiene company called in to do the cleaning.

"We don't have any health hazards there," Anderson said. "The air quality in the building meets the environmental standards."

But some employees had a section of drywall analyzed themselves by a California microbiology laboratory, and it came up containing high counts of the fungus Stachybotrys chartarum. The greenish-black fungus is known to colonize in wet drywall, straw, hay and paper.

The fungus is suspected of causing flu-like symptoms, sore throats, diarrhea, headaches, fatigue and hair loss in individuals exposed to it.

Last year, employees at the Sawyer State Office Building, 555 E. Washington Ave., complained of becoming ill, and state officials suspected the fungus played a part in their illnesses because it was found growing on some hot water pipes.

While the independent analysis of the drywall showed high numbers of the fungus, Thomas McManus, president of Environmental Health Services, the industrial hygienist cleaning the city building, said in a written report that air samples taken in the building following the cleaning were below pollen and mold spore levels measured from outside air.

But a city employee, who requested anonymity, said workers are still getting sick daily and many are afraid of losing their jobs if they complain.

Dr. George Traczuk, an occupational health consultant, said while fungal growth on a piece of drywall may show high counts, measuring the inside air quality of a building is the only way to determine if there is a health risk.

Anderson said the city has no intention of moving anyone out of the building, or letting employees work at home if they feel the building is making them sick.

"If they have sinus problems, we encourage them to see a doctor," Anderson said. "If employees felt strong enough about this, they could asked to be put on a transfer list."

The city moved the three departments into the Fourth Street building in September 1996. It had been unoccupied for seven years.