Air samples reveal only dust in controller’s office
Air samples taken from the Fayette County controllers’ office showed nothing but “dust,” according to county Commissioner Sean M. Cavanagh, who said controller Mark Roberts was irresponsible for telling a custodian not to enter his office because it contained “black mold” that was fatal. However, Roberts said that he “never, ever” uttered the word “fatal,” but did say that a local microbiologist who has read about the maladies of controllers’ office employees has told him their symptoms are consistent with “toxic black mold.”
Roberts’ Wednesday afternoon comment to custodian Jerry Trainor prompted county Building and Grounds Supervisor Jack Frith to track down Commissioner Ronald M. Nehls, who authorized the closing of Roberts’ office doors with yellow warning tape.
Frith said that Trainor initially thought that Roberts was kidding at courthouse closing time when he told him, “Don’t go in there – it’s black mold and it’s fatal.” But after dwelling on the comment, Trainor called Frith, who decided to err on the side of caution.
“When (Trainor) called me he said, ‘I don’t know whether to believe him or not.’ We didn’t know what to do, so we were just taking precautions,” said Frith.
County manager Warren Hughes confirmed that preliminary results of environmental tests conducted by FACE Associates of Uniontown showed only the presence of dust in the air. Cavanagh said that’s a far cry from what Roberts is claiming – and noted that Frith dispatched six workers to give Roberts’ office a thorough, top-to-bottom cleaning two Saturdays ago.
“For him to tell one of my employees that (it’s fatal), that’s irresponsible,” said Cavanagh. “Where is he getting his information? Why would he be using a scare tactic? I don’t think it’s right. I think it’s almost the same as saying there’s a fire in a movie theater.”
Roberts said it is “ridiculous” for anyone to claim that he used the word “fatal,” especially considering that he and his staff have chosen to work in the subject office for the past three weeks. He also said he considers Trainor “a friend” and speculated that Trainor’s interpretation of his comments was “nothing more than his misunderstanding of what I told him.”
Additionally, Roberts said that Cavanagh “apparently has no hesitation with making employees’ health a political issue.” He also said he suspects that since Cavanagh is involved, Trainor “feels as if his job is threatened if he were to say anything else” regarding their conversation.
Cavanagh said he has done everything in his power to accommodate the controller’s office staff for health and safety reasons. “I’ve never threatened anybody’s job, ever. That’s ridiculous,” said Cavanagh. “I think it’s very irresponsible and inappropriate of what Mark Roberts told an employee, of knowledge that he doesn’t have. His conduct is asinine.”
Regarding Roberts’ assertion that an unnamed local expert has diagnosed the perplexing condition from afar, Cavanagh said, “If that’s the case, I think this local microbiologist should bring it to the attention of the Centers for Disease Control.”
Frith said that his staff’s cleaning of the controller’s office was as comprehensive as possible. “The ceilings were swept, the walls were washed, we shampooed and steam-cleaned the carpets, we cleaned the ducts – we did everything imaginable,” said Frith.
However, Roberts said that despite the housecleaning effort, the problem persists. His employees had complained of headaches, nausea and sinus-related problems, among other things.
“My staff said that within a couple of days of when the cleaning was done, it was as bad as it has ever been,” said Roberts.