Kiowa – Efforts to battle leaks and mold at the Elbert County Justice Center will keep the building and the adjoining jail closed for at least two more weeks, County Commissioner John Metli said Tuesday.
The center has been vacant since Jan. 12, the second time in 18 months that leaks and mold drove out employees, inmates and court personnel.
Metli and other officials declined to lay responsibility for the leaky 20-year-old building on the original contractor or those who made extensive repairs last year.
“We inherited problems with this building, and we’re paying for it,” Metli said of the nearly $200,000 that taxpayers have coughed up so far to deal with the mold problem.
Officials downplayed the health risks and the extent of damage. Air tests, experts said, showed the risk of mold was no greater indoors at the Justice Center than it was outdoors, and environmental officials said they would have no problem working in the building.
“This building is a lot more watertight than it’s ever been,” said Carl Cox, vice president of Excel Environmental Inc., the county’s consultant on the mold issue.
Contacted later Tuesday, 18th Judicial District Attorney Carol Chambers said she wasn’t reassured. “The experts who are now saying it’s safe are the same ones who said it was safe a year ago,” she said. “I’m certainly leaving it up to my employees about whether they go back. … There’s a lot of people go in and out of that building every week, and there needs to be signs warning people.”
Leaks and mold came to light in September 2004 when a county employee complained of an allergic reaction to mold. Since then, four more people have claimed health problems related to the mold, including headaches, muscle aches and problems concentrating.
The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine estimates that 10 percent of people have reactions to mold spores, and about half of those may need to see a doctor as a result. Those with allergies or asthma are most at risk.
The building reopened in February, after extensive indoor and outdoor work to try to seal the leaks. During that time, court operations were relocated to Douglas and Arapahoe counties.
After Chambers and Sheriff William Frangis complained about leaks in the building over the past two months, inspectors found a 2-foot-square patch of mold in a wall in a judge’s office, prompting an exodus of eight employees in the court building Jan. 11 and 12.
The county moved about 14 inmates to Washington County, paying $47.50 per prisoner each day to house them there. Some of the 35 inmates continue to work in the building.
Staff writer Joey Bunch can be reached at 303-820-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com.
