Maui faces mold cleanup in second county office

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

WAILUKU, Maui — After spending more than $725,000 to rid a government building of mold two years ago, Maui County faces another potentially costly cleanup of hazardous fungus.

The problem has surfaced in the old Wailuku Post Office on High Street, a building now used for records storage. After employees complained, the county placed the building under quarantine, locking up tens of thousands of records for several weeks last summer before allowing the limited access that continues today.

The county spent $3,250 on testing that confirmed the existence of two different types of mold colonies, and Mayor Alan Arakawa is asking for as much as $50,000 in his proposed budget for a temporary solution to the problem.

A long-term solution remains up in the air, dependent on solving the county's dwindling space and growing records-management dilemma. One solution is to buy the building, tear it down and rebuild, Arakawa said.

The three-story post office was built in 1959 and closed in 1990 after a larger postal facility was built in the Wailuku Millyard. In the mid-1990s, the county agreed to lease the building from a private party that had bought it from the federal government. According to a 30-year rental agreement, the county is responsible for all maintenance and repairs to the building, which is across the street from the main county office building.

Arakawa said mold apparently was discovered in the building shortly before he took office in January 2003. Rain seeping into the basement and stairwells has created slippery conditions, warping files and exacerbating the mold problem.

Molds grow in damp areas and emit spores that float like pollen. They are a common trigger for allergies and can cause or worsen respiratory problems.

Three years ago, the county's Kalana Pukui building, a former police station down the street from the post office, was closed after Planning Department employees complained of headaches, eye irritation and respiratory ailments. The odors initially were believed to be linked to maintenance on the air-conditioning system, but remedial work found an active, fertile colony of fungus known to cause respiratory problems.

Taxpayers coughed up more than $725,000 for the cleanup, including $30,000 in moving expenses and $244,000 in rent for 80 employees in nearby offices.

Five months later, the Old Courthouse Building, on the same block, was evacuated for about two hours after a dozen employees with the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney reported a metallic smell and complained of respiratory problems and headaches. Mold tests came back negative.

That apparently was an isolated incident. But when the prosecutor's office moved about 100 file cabinets into the dank post office basement a couple of years ago, a problem became apparent.

"People were complaining of a variety of respiratory problems when they went over there," said Wayne Steel, the prosecutor attorney's administrative officer.

"The smell is really bad," said Danny Agsalog, the county's budget director.

The county hired Maui-based Vuich Environmental Consulting Inc. to conduct air and mold testing, and the building remained shut for weeks.

County Prosecutor Davelynn Tengan said the access problem was a hassle for her staff, but didn't result in any lost court cases.

Arakawa acknowledged the closure created problems.

"Maybe it was overkill, but we don't have any sick employees," he said. "As a new administration, we took a defensive position. We didn't want to take any chances. If we erred, it was erring on the side of safety."

Officials installed an air-purifying device tested at Maui Community College and created by engineer Jack Kulp, subsequently appointed city managing director by Arakawa. The device is designed to kill mold, bacteria and viruses by sucking in air and exposing it to ultraviolet light.

The air purifier, which Kulp has loaned to the county, appears to be working well enough to allow people into the basement wearing breathing masks, officials said.

The tentative plan is to hire a company to seal off the contaminated area and bring the files to the top floor. But that's only if the Maui County Council does not cut the managing director's budget, Arakawa said.

The council, which is considering budget cuts in its ongoing deliberations, is expected to vote on a final draft of the 2004-05 budget early next week.

Reach Timothy Hurley at thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.