Pipes are broken, the roof and windows are leaking, rugs have been pulled up, wood floors are peeling back, and buckets are placed in the hallways to catch dripping water. The mold problem in this building is so bad that it can clog your sinuses and close your throat as soon as you enter. But this building isn’t your grandmother’s leaky old home. It’s a federal courthouse – and it’s only twelve years old.
Within two years after the 17-story Sam H. Gibbons Courthouse was constructed in Tampa, occupants began complaining about the horrible indoor air quality. A woman on the top floor has to go home from work when she suffers nose bleeds. A judge has to call frequent recesses during trial when the mold becomes too unbearable. Another judge keeps losing her voice when presiding. A study on occupants of this courthouse showed they were three times likely to develop adult onset asthma.
The problems with the courthouse were finally brought to light when U.S. Senator Bill Nelson visited the building after receiving numerous cries for help from building occupants. After seeing the mold and experiencing symptoms himself during his tour of the building he vowed to “raise Cain,” “stay on their doorstep,” and “beat the door down until they get some action.”
All fingers are pointing to poor construction. The $70 million courthouse was built five months late and millions over budget. Pipes started bursting almost immediately and the roof began to leak. Within two years, occupants were experiencing sick building syndrome at a rate five times greater than average.
Maintenance work to repair the building is coming at a snails pace and things seem to break faster than they can get fixed. The windows of the top two floors were replaced due to leaks with one million dollars of taxpayer money. Meanwhile, the all the building occupants can do is just deal with the mold any way they can.
A U.S. Senator has the power to make some real changes, not just in this Tampa courthouse, but in new regulations that prevent these situations from happening again. Mold’s biggest power over us is the lack of education and awareness, so with more lawmakers aware of the dangers of mold we can hopefully see changes in how we prevent and react to mold.
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