Originally ran in California Job Journal, April 16, 2000.
by Kathy Masera, publisher
California Job Journal
Everything happens for a reason. So why did this happen to me and my company - a small newspaper operation dedicated to employment and workplace issues?
Maybe it was to open my eyes to the plight other workers have faced. Frankly, until the nightmare of the past four months, I too discounted a threat you could not see. Sure, I had read and seen reports about toxic mold, but until you live through it, you cannot truly comprehend the seriousness of the problem. Our scientist likens the current ignorance about mold to the status of asbestos 30 years ago. Tragically, few people understood its deadly potential, until it was too late.
I never realized until now how common the problem is. The City
of Sacramento received over 800 complaints from residential and commercial tenants about mold infestations this winter. In each case, tenants complained the landlord was doing virtually nothing.
I can believe it. In looking for new office space, realtors have attempted to show me some properties that are absolute science projects - pits of mold infestation. In one case, an entire wall was green and black fuzz, emitting a pungent, musty odor. "Oh, that will be painted," offered the building manager.
"We're outta here," I responded.
The problem is not limited to commercial properties. News reports have documented countless cases of devastated homeowners and victimized residential tenants struggling with their landlords' unwillingness to address a real and urgent threat.
Remarkably there are no laws on the books, no governing authority and no regulations that any agency can use to either require remediation of a mold problem or even disclose its existence to a prospective tenant.
In our case, we have the resources to seek legal recourse. But what about those who don't? Can you imagine an elderly tenant struggling to resolve a building maintenance problem in a senior citizen complex?
Not only are the old at risk, the young are even more susceptible.
After our story hit the airwaves, we received a call from a young father who had just purchased his first home. Although no one informed him before the sale, he discovered it was infested with mold. He was calling because his one-week old baby was getting sicker by the day, even though he had kept the infant away from the contaminated part of their house.
Experts believe that mold problems caused by leaking roofs in many public schools are responsible for a startling rise in the number of children with asthma. Alarmingly, after their prolonged exposure to toxic mold, these kids are likely to retain a heightened sensitivity to molds for the rest of their lives.
The health hazard of toxic mold is growing. Just as bacteria are developing a more deadly resistance to antibiotics, scientists are finding toxic molds evolving in a similarly lethal direction. The implications of the long-term medical costs are staggering - yet nothing has been done.
I have been meeting with state legislators to push for a state law amending California's Uniform Building Code Act to include toxic mold as a hazardous condition requiring remediation by property owners.
It's too late to do anything about our case, but it's not too late to prevent others from having to suffer as we have - especially people without the resources to pursue a protracted legal battle.
Why did this happen to me? Who better than a newspaper publisher (with five years of legislative experience) who has crusaded successfully for other workplace reforms.
Part III - Battling Bigger Varmits
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