Living with mold can be exhausting. The health problems, the legal battles, the medical research, the petty politics – mold can put us through a lot of mental stress and strain. Maybe The Future of Mold needs a vacation.
How about a visit to a tropical paradise to put our mind at ease? How about we relax for a moment at the luxurious Hawaii Hilton and enjoy a moment of peace away from mold? Wrong!
The Hilton Hawaiian Village & Resort Spa is currently under investigation by two state agencies for possible mold in its Mandara Spa. The Department of Health’s Indoor and Radiological branch and Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health (HIOSH) are responding to complaints from hotel employees that mold is making them sick.
The mold probably resulted when a fourth floor pool in the tower overflowed into spa treatment rooms. It makes sense. Hawaii is especially susceptible to mold because it is so humid.
Employees of the Kalia Tower, which houses the Mandara Spa, might remember that the tower had a nasty mold infestation previously in 2002. Hilton was forced to close its 453 room tower for 13 months and spend over $10 million on repairs and to test employees for mold-related illnesses. Hilton also paid about $1.8 million in settlement claims to 2,900 guests, who claimed that the resort had failed to disclose its mold problem.
As usual in these scenarios, Hilton in turn sued over a dozen companies and individuals blaming architects, engineers, construction companies and inspection firms for the massive mold problem. The incident spurred an outbreak of mold panic in Hawaii leading to the growth of fly-by-night mold remediators looking to cash-in on the anxiety.
But the Hilton Hawaii learned its lesson from that past experience. Now Jerry Gibson, Hilton Hawaii’s vice president, isn’t taking any risks with mold. He has closed nine spa treatment rooms and hired a contractor to see if the carpets can be salvaged.
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