Mould not a problem in portables here

Four portable classrooms under the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board had to be shut down last week due to extensive mould contamination but the ones used by the local Catholic school board don’t face the same problem.
“We had them all checked last year for mould and there didn’t seem to be a problem,” Carol Lynne Oldale, director of education with the Northwest Catholic District School Board, said Tuesday.
“When mould became a big issue in southern Ontario, the government initiated some funding to have schools check things out,” she noted. “So we had a specialist from Lakehead [University] come and look at ours.
“There was no sign of mould but he did make some recommendations for repairs, which we did,” she added.
The local school board has four portables currently in use. The three in Fort Frances–located at St. Francis and St. Michael’s–serve as a special education classroom, a native-as-a-second-language classroom, and a meeting room for the board.
The fourth one, which opened in September at Sacred Heart School in Sioux Lookout, shouldn’t have mould problems down the road, either.
“We considered [mould] for this portable and ended up purchasing one that stays mould-free. I believe it has to do with its steel construction,” Oldale explained.
The Rainy River District School Board has no portables in use.
Unlike here, four portables at two schools in the Keewatin-Patricia board were found to be so contaminated with mould they had to be closed.
They included South portables ‘A’ and ‘B’ as well as the Lakeview portable at Queen Elizabeth School, and a duplex portable at Central School.
All but the Lakeview portable, which Education Director Dave McLeod described as “really old anyway,” will be reopened within the week as staff work to eliminate the problem.
Meanwhile, four others–Math portable #3 at Beaver Brae, the grade seven portable at Sprucedale, the library portable at Hudson, and the Portaplex portable at Queen Elizabeth–had varying degrees of mould growth, which surprised McLeod.
“This summer, we visually inspected every portable and we never found a trace,” he said. “But the Northwestern Health Unit said they would like us to do invasive testing, for which they have a very stringent protocol.”
The board hired D.S.T. Engineering Inc. to test during Christmas break, which discovered mould behind the walls in some of the portables.
“It’s not dangerous at that point but if it’s disturbed, there’s a problem,” explained McLeod, adding the samples–while small in quantity–were enough to warrant action.
The board had an expert in to train staff on how to identify, remove, and remediate mould who, in turn, worked side-by-side with the health unit to the minor contamination cases.
All evidence of mould growth was removed, and remedial action was completed on these portables by health unit and school board staff.
McLeod noted the benefit of having the invasive inspection and subsequent staff training was to keep tabs on the health risk in the future.
“We know now that we’ve taken the portables apart, that no mould today doesn’t mean no mold tomorrow. We know to check windows, cracks around doors, everything,” he said.
McLeod added the health unit was very helpful–and thorough.
Mould spores generally are not hazardous to healthy individuals. But those with hay fever, asthma, or other allergies are much more susceptible to effects ranging from rashes, headaches, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, muscle aches, runny nose, watery eyes, nasal congestion, itching, coughing, wheezing, and difficulty breathing.
Some immune deficient individuals, such as HIV-positive or cancer patients, also may get infections because of the mould.