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January 31, 2008

Health board, selectmen to work together on Town Hall air problems

By Robin Thomas

MERRIMAC — Employee complaints over the air quality in the basement of Town Hall were addressed at a public hearing this week.

The Board of Health conducted the hearing at the request of selectmen, who had received an order from Health Agent Debbie Ketchen to make corrections.

Following complaints of respiratory problems from five employees in basement offices, an air-quality study was conducted by the state's Department of Public Health in December 2006 and finalized in March 2007.

At Wednesday's hearing, Selectman Earl Baumgardner questioned the 10-month delay by asking Board of Health Chairman Eileen Hurley, "What's happened since last March until now?"

Hurley said that selectmen had been busy with "a lot of things going on at that time." In addition, she said employee complaints recently became much worse.

Selectman Carol Traynor said that there is "no direct medical correlation that we know of" between employees' health issues and the problems cited in the DPH report.

Nonetheless, Baumgardner said that selectmen are "committed" to fixing outstanding issues and will update the Board of Health with their findings.

"Fresh air supply is No. 1 importance," Traynor said, and she agreed that the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system should be checked and repaired if necessary. Selectmen will contact a local contractor to verify a fresh air source and obtain estimates if corrections are required.

Selectmen will also check whether a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) vacuum is used for the regular building maintenance, and whether chemicals are applied during cleaning (which can cause health problems for some people).

Exterior caulking repairs must wait for warm and dry weather.

Traynor disagreed with the DPH recommendation that carpeting should be replaced in all areas "susceptible" to water damage. She said that it should be removed only where mold or mildew is found.

Building Inspector Phil Hagopian said that carpeting could be replaced with remnants that were retained after the 2003 Town Hall renovations.

Hurley insisted that in the storage room, "The (mold) smell is terrible. It is pretty important that that plywood be removed" and replaced with material that does not retain moisture.

Hagopian said that he found no evidence of mold after conducting tests in three locations using 48-hour Home Depot test kits. He suggested that employees could be mistaking ammonia vapor from the diazo blueprints for mold.

After the hearing, Hurley said that the Board of Health issued no deadline to the selectmen. "Weather permitting is what we're up against." She reiterated that the Board of Health will "work together" with the selectmen.

There is some surplus money remaining from the Town Hall renovations that can be used for these repairs. Hurley believes that these repair costs will not involve "big money" and that funding should not be a problem. After corrections are made to the building, the state will return to re-conduct air testing at no charge.

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Health board, selectmen to work together on Town Hall air problems
by By Robin Thomas , , Thu Jan 31, 2008, 10:57 PM EST

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