GAO Recommendations to EPA on Mold not being followed – FEMA – Katrina Trailers

From: SNK1955@aol.com
To:  SlossN@gao.gov
Sent: 2/9/2010 12:13:32 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
Subj: GAO Recommendations to EPA on Mold not being followed. FEMA Katrina Trailers 
 
Hi Nicholas,

How are you?  I was wondering what the GAO is doing to follow up on its two recommendations to the EPA with regard to Federal interagency coordination of information and public advisories on the health effects of mold.

After the two year audit, the GAO made two simple recommendations to the EPA:

U.S. GAO – Indoor Mold: Better Coordination of Research on Health Effects and More Consistent Guidance Would Improve Federal Efforts. [http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-980 ]

Recommendation: The Administrator, EPA, should use the Federal Interagency Committee on Indoor Air Quality [CIAQ] to help articulate and guide research priorities on indoor mold across relevant federal agencies, coordinate information sharing on ongoing and planned research activities among agencies, and provide information to the public on ongoing research activities to better ensure that federal research on the health effects of exposure to indoor mold is effectively addressing research needs and efficiently using scarce federal resources.

Agency Affected: Environmental Protection Agency

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.   

What has the GAO done to follow up on the above recommendation?

Recommendation: The Administrator, EPA, should use the Federal Interagency Committee on Indoor Air Quality [CIAQ]  to help relevant agencies review their existing guidance to the public on indoor mold–considering the audience and purpose of the guidance documents–to better ensure that it sufficiently alerts the public, especially vulnerable populations, about the potential adverse health effects of exposure to indoor mold and educates them on how to minimize exposure in homes. The reviews should take into account the best available information and ensure that the guidance does not conflict among agencies. 

Agency Affected: Environmental Protection Agency

I am writing you today because I am fed up with the politics that is adverse to the health and safety of the American public.  Four years after the audit request into the health effects of mold by the late Senator Edward Kennedy and we are STILL no further along to stop the deceit in science over the mold issue than we were four years ago.

The EPA is trying to shut down Federal interagency coordination on the health effects of mold via their CIAQ.  One of the members of this purported public interest workgroup that would greatly benefit from the self destructing of any interagency coordination is FEMA.

Two of FEMA’s expert defense witnesses that they are using to defeat financial liability for sickness caused by the Katrina trailers are the authors of the US Chamber of Commerce’s position statement on mold, “A Scientific View of the Health Effects of Mold” (2003).  The Chamber paper claims it is scientifically proven all claims of illness from mold are only made because of “trial lawyers, media, and junk science.” Page 65.

Besides authoring the Chamber’s “scientific” view which absurdly professes to scientifically prove the toxins of mold are not toxic; FEMA’s mold experts and the owners of VeriTox, Inc, Bryan Hardin and Bruce Kelman, also authored the mold position statement for the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. (ACOEM).  

Their conclusion that it is scientifically proven the toxin of mold are not toxic to humans have NEVER been duplicated. Never. Not ever. Never.

ACOEM’s part in the Federally sanctioned mold debacle is, “Adverse Human Health Effects of Mold Associated With the Indoor Environment” (2002) 

FEMA’s Expert Witness List includes the US Chamber/ACOEM authors of VeriTox, Inc. Bruce Kelman and Coreen Robbins.

SEE 23 MINUTE VIDEO DEPOSITION OF FEMA’S EXPERT, BRUCE KELMAN, BEING FORCED TO DISCUSS THE DECEIT IN SCIENCE OF THE US CHAMBER ET AL;

As I think you are aware, VeriTox has been trying to silence me about the deceit in science mass marketed to the courts by the US Chamber of Commerce et al., by strategically litigating in the San Diego court system for five years.  They sued me for the word “altered” that was within the first public outing of White Collars teaming with White Coats to perpetrate a fraud on US courts.  

It has cost me well over $1M not to be silenced in the name of public health.  My family has been harmed and held out in despicable false light by unscrupulous journalists like Daniel Heimpel and Jill Stewart of LA Weekly, trying to silence and discredit me and thereby discredit the words of all the mold sick and injured.

After five years, the San Diego courts FINALLY seem to be getting a clue about this strategic litigation being adverse to public health.  They are asking questions with answers submitted in Response to the Courts Query on January 28, 2010.

As was known in 2007 when the GAO and Senate HELP Committee Specifically deleted looking into the conflicts of interest over the mold issue; ACOEM and the two VeriTox owners, Bruce Kelman and Bryan Hardin, had been written about on the front page of the Wall Street Journal in January 2007 for their escapades over mold and how it was carried out for the purpose of unduly influencing litigation adverse to the interest of the American public.

Given the above, I can’t help but feel that the GAO and Senate HELP are themselves partially responsible for the situation of continued conflicts of interest within the EPA and FEMA; wasted tax dollars; and Federal “science” that not in the public interest with regard to serious mold induced illnesses in US citizens. One can hardly even pick up a newspaper  these days without reading of the EPA, FEMA and elected government officials feigning ignorance.

If the following aspect of the GAO audit that was to look into the conflicts of interest over mold induced illness had not been Specifically deleted from being investigated in the audit; then this political gamemanship of the US Chamber of Commerce et al, would have been forced to stop long ago to the benefit of the American public.

Specifically deleted from the GAO audit:
“What medical and scientific standards are used in determining the admissibility of evidence of both acute and persistent health consequences resulting from exposure to mold? Which individuals and organizations have promulgated these standards and what, if any, conflicts of interest exist regarding these standards?”

The CIAQ Webinar of February 3, 2010 could only be described as disgusting, disrespectful to the public and adverse to the health and safety of the American public.  There was no mention or any progress report of any Federal Interagency Workgroup of Mold on the agenda.  This is because they were directed not to meet by David Rowson of the EPA.

When Mr. David Rowson, Director, Center for Asthma and Schools, Indoor Environments Divison, US EPA was asked questions during the Feb 3 rd  meeting regarding the progress of the interagency mold workgroup; he hemmed and hawed and stated that the approximate 50 US citizens on the line of the teleconference would have to wait til the end of the meeting for it to be discussed. 

Despite the lack of respect for the American public, approximately 35 citizens did stay on the line for over 3 hours waiting to be heard only to have Mr. Rowson leave the meeting room when they were finally able to speak at 4PM.  

Mr. Phillip Jalbert, who heads the CIAQ, has been doing the best he can to follow through on the recommendations of the GAO for the benefit of public health – with No funding provided to him to carry out the important change for public health and obviously no support for the GAO recommendations within the EPA – with FEMA benefiting from NOT INFORMING the public and NOT SENDING CONSISTENT MESSAGING from our Federal government.

The lunacy of the matter at hand is best summed up by neurotoxicologist, Dr. Kennith Hudnell, who has done much research into the health effects of the toxic components of mold and left the EPA over two years ago.  Although Dr. Hudnell could not stay on the phone for over 3 hours on Feb 3, the following is the statement he was prepared to make:

“I am Dr. Ken Hudnell. I served as a neurotoxicologist at EPA for 23 years. My focus for the last dozen years was on biotoxins and associated human illness, including fungal mycotoxin-induced illness. The Federal Interagency Committee on IAQ is needed to ensure Federal agencies give consistent information on mold-related illness, enable one group to be aware of all Federal efforts on the topic and fill any research gaps, and reduce duplication of effort. It is hard to imagine that some people still do not recognize the need for stronger interagency coordination. How else can our country take a cohesive and comprehensive approach toward solutions for mold-related illness and other major challenges that we face?”

H Kenneth Hudnell, PhD
Chapel Hill, NC 27517″ 

Evidence of more lunacy of the matter and conflicts of interest within the Federal Government, is a Video of Bruce Kelman literally laughing at the thousands of people who have requested a Congressional Oversight and Government Reform Hearing into the matter. 

Apparently Mr. Kelman was right to laugh.  No such Government Oversight hearing has ever come to fruition in spite of the pleas of thousands; and FEMA is now using the deceit of the US Chamber against Katrina victims, just like the Department of Justice has used the deceptive science of the US Chamber against sick military families living in moldy military housing.  

Tell me again, for WHOM does the Federal government work and HOW are my tax dollars being used in the interest of US citizens?????  Given the situation at hand; and what is at stake for the health and safety of the American public; I have three questions for the GAO:

1. WHAT is the GAO’s intent of following up on their recommendations to the EPA regarding the work of the CIAQ to promote accurate, consistent mold health information?

2. WHERE is the change we were promised with the Obama Administration?  From what I am witnessing, I see no difference from the Bush Administration with regard to serious environmentally induced illnesses in the United States of America and the insurance industry’s influence over both sides of the isles of Congress.

3.  Does NO ONE in our Federal Government have the strength, inclination or desire to stand up to the US Chamber of Commerce, the Insurance Industry and their medical frontmen for the sake of the health and welfare of the American public??????  

Sorry to be so directly brutal, Nic, but unnecessary death and illness in the American public and Federal conflicts of interest adverse to public health and safety is a brutal subject.  PLEASE DO SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!

Sincerely,
Sharon
760-746-8026

EPA CIAQ: GAO Mold Audit Workgroup doesn’t report in – What is going on at the EPA? – Indoor air pollution and mold aren’t top priorities?

Certain Corporate and Government Interests Have Spent Huge Sums of Money and Resources DENYING THE TRUTH about the HEALTH EFFECTS of TOXIC MOLD

Political Action Committee – National Apartment Association (NAA) – files Amicus Brief in mold case (two infant deaths in mold filled apt – Wasatch Prop Mgmt) citing US Chamber/ACOEM ‘litigation defense report’ to disclaim health effects of indoor mold & limit financial risk for industry

A letter to the NAA regarding an email they deleted without reading – please retract your amicus in the Abad case in Arizona – it is fraud by a political action committee, the National Apartment Association, that is furthering another fraud by another political action committee, the US Chamber of Commerce

“Changes in construction methods have caused US buildings to become perfect petri dishes for mold and bacteria to flourish when water is added. Instead of warning the public and teaching physicians that the buildings were causing illness; in 2003 the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, a think-tank, and a workers comp physician trade organization mass marketed an unscientific nonsequitor to the courts to disclaim the adverse health effects to stave off liability for financial stakeholders of moldy buildings. Although publicly exposed many times over the years, the deceit lingers in US courts to this very day.” Sharon Noonan Kramer

Information on Riverstone Residential knowingly exposing tenants to extreme amounts of mold toxins at Toxic Mold Infested Jefferson Lakes Apartments in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Toxic Mold Infested Jefferson Lakes Apartments managed by Riverstone Residential

Riverstone Residential Litigation

Mold Inspection Reports

Photos of Mold in Apartment

Attorney Malpractice

Alabama State House – Health concerns about mold – doctors for two employees with serious health problems attributed those to the environment at their work

February 7, 2010

By Sebastian Kitchen

Dianne Harper’s doctor attributes the two painful surgeries on her sinuses to her 18 years of work in the Alabama State House.

The surgeries included scraping, a more than three-hour procedure to remove fungus the doctor compared to the consistency of soft serve ice cream, and later putting in a stent to try to deter future growth.

“He said he hadn’t seen anything quite like it,” Harper said.

She said the doctor attributes the fungus to the environment and is 99 percent certain it is from the State House. He even asked her if she could be moved to a different building.

Harper is not the only employee who has voiced her concern about the possible adverse effects on her health to the men who manage the Alabama House of Representatives and Senate on a daily basis. Those men said they also are concerned about the working environment.

A ’sick building’

“I think it’s a sick building,” said Greg Pappas, the clerk of the House, who manages the operations and employees on a daily basis. “If you look behind these wall coverings you can see mold and mildew.”

Many air vents in the building, in offices and in the House and Senate chambers, have mildew or other growth on and around them.

Some offices, including Pappas’, have damage from water that has come through the ceiling or the windows.

In some offices, including the room used by the press on the first floor, the wallpaper is peeling back and growth can be seen on the wall.

While most people said there were problems there before the major flooding that hit central Alabama in May, they say those problems have intensified since the basement, first floor and other parts of the building flowed with water, forcing the Legislature to move across the street to the historic chambers at the Capitol for the first time since the 1980s.

Pappas said doctors for two employees in the House of Representatives who have serious health problems attributed those to the environment at their work. He was talking about Harper and another employee, whose doctor also suggested that he not work in the building.

“People ought to be concerned about it,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a healthy building.”

Harper took swabs of her office and the office next door, which is used by Rep. Greg Canfield.

She showed the Montgomery Advertiser the results of the tests, which were performed by the laboratory at Jackson Hospital and Clinic Inc., and at the state laboratory.

Those results showed two different mold species, penicillium and cladosporium. Penicillium is a common mold that can produce toxins and cladosporium is also a common fungus that can be a significant allergen, according to several Web sites.

Harper, a clerk for committees including the legislative contract review committee, said she is concerned about the long-term effects on her and other employees. She is also concerned about the regular CAT scans that are performed on her to see whether the fungus growth is coming back.

20 health complaints

Harper has collected written comments from 20 of her coworkers who have health issues that they attribute to working at the State House. She plans to submit those to the Legislative Building Authority, which oversees the facility, “so it is not just hearsay and they have it on paper.”

Harper said more people have approached her with their stories, but they are reluctant to speak up out of fear of retribution.

State Sen. Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, said he has concerns about the health of the building and the structural soundness of the State House, which he said appears to be aging much faster after the massive flooding in May.

“This is not the healthy building the private sector or public sector would want,” Bedford said. But, he added, there is not public support to build a new government building.

Staff for the House and Senate talked to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, had someone from the University of North Alabama examine the building, and talked with an official with the Division of Respiratory Disease Studies at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Pappas said the health department does not have a division to handle similar issues.

The staff said there was not a conclusive standard to determine the air quality in the building. Dave Avant, administrative assistant to the secretary of the Senate, said people have different tolerance levels and there is no barometer of what will make people sick.

“It’s hard to get anybody to come in and say it’s a sick building,” Pappas said.

Don Ladner, administrative assistant to the clerk of the House, thought that might be because of legal concerns or issues with federal standards.

“You mention mold and nobody wants to sign off on it that you’ve got a problem,” he said.

Another Senate official, Dowe Littleton, said they were told that there is not a way to determine whether the employees are sick because of air quality at work or because of conditions elsewhere, such as at their homes.

Little recourse

Pappas and Avant said the EPA informed them there was not much that it could do.

Henry Slack of the Atlanta office of the EPA visited the State House in June. He offered generic advice to try to improve the work environment, according to legislative staff.

Carl Terry, spokesman with District IV of the EPA that covers the Southeast, said Slack was in Montgomery to attend a meeting and went to the State House to offer advice. The visit was not an official inspection and Slack did not write a report, he said.

“We have no statutory rights with regards to mold,” Terry said. “We have no enforcement program with regards to that.”

He said it was obvious there had been flooding in the building and there was a serious moisture problem.

“That results in problems with mold and mildew,” Terry said. “A mold problem is common with a moisture problem.”

Slack, he said, shared the EPA’s Web site address and toll-free number for more information.

“When moisture problems occur and mold growth results, building occupants may begin to report odors and a variety of health problems, such as headaches, breathing difficulties, skin irritation, allergic reactions, and aggravation of asthma symptoms; all of these symptoms could potentially be associated with mold exposure,” according to the EPA Web site.

“All molds have the potential to cause health effects. Molds produce allergens, irritants, and in some cases, toxins that may cause reactions in humans. The types and severity of symptoms depend, in part, on the types of mold present, the extent of an individual’s exposure, the ages of the individuals, and their existing sensitivities or allergies.”

Littleton said they have followed Slack’s suggestions that were financially feasible.

“We’ve done all we can,” he said. “We have followed what the expert asked us to do.”

Littleton said there is not the political will to spend the money to make the capital improvements that would be needed, but that they have done what they could to improve the environment, including putting dehumidifiers in offices and in the Senate chamber.

Without a national standard for air quality in the work place, “we are doing the best we can,” Littleton said.

Pappas said there are 19 dehumidifiers in offices on the fifth and sixth floors controlled by the House.

Harper has had the airflow, heating and cooling, shut off into her office. There is also a dehumidifier that runs just outside of her door.

Solutions expensive

Littleton talked to Jean Cox-Ganser with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health on the phone. He said she suggested vendors the state could hire.

“It is very expensive,” he said.

Ladner, who said he has problems with nasal drainage when he is in the building, said the environment in the building is perfect for mold because there are leaks, have been at least two floods, and there is vinyl wallpaper that does not allow the walls to breathe.

“You can pull it off and see it,” he said of the mold.

Ladner said he was told by experts that people cannot get rid of the mold.

Top staff at the House and Senate feel they have done due diligence, but do not know where to turn. They also know they are working in an aging building, which was originally built to house the transportation department in 1963 and has old ductwork.

Avant said they tried to find something concrete they could give to lawmakers to demonstrate to them the possible effects on employees, “but you can’t.”

Bedford said he has heard from a number of employees. He said much of the damage from airborne elements comes from accumulation.

Bedford said the Legislative Building Authority needs to look at health issues and consider a way to help, such as increasing ventilation or implementing a mold prevention program.

Rep. Richard Laird, D-Roanoke, has introduced a bill that would allow the authority to sell bonds, to enter into an agreement with the Retirement Systems of Alabama, to hire personnel, to connect to the Capitol, and to take control of some streets and parking lots in the Capitol complex. Laird is chairman of the building authority.

Ladner said he and Pappas would likely not be in their positions by the time a new State House was built.

“For people in the building all the time, they have a right to work in a safe, healthy environment,” Ladner said.

Some lawmakers have talked about building a new State House because of concerns with the current facility, but a lot of those concerns were focused on public access with small meeting rooms.

There does not appear to be the political will, with an election looming and the state struggling financially due to the recession, to build a new State House.

“We think we owe it to employees to offer a safe environment,” Avant said.

But, he said, they are stuck in the building and the options are limited.

“We don’t have another place to put anybody,” Littleton said.

montgomeryadvertiser

EPA CIAQ: GAO Mold Audit Workgroup doesn’t report in – What is going on at the EPA? – Indoor air pollution and mold aren’t top priorities?

Certain Corporate and Government Interests Have Spent Huge Sums of Money and Resources DENYING THE TRUTH about the HEALTH EFFECTS of TOXIC MOLD

Political Action Committee – National Apartment Association (NAA) – files Amicus Brief in mold case (two infant deaths in mold filled apt – Wasatch Prop Mgmt) citing US Chamber/ACOEM ‘litigation defense report’ to disclaim health effects of indoor mold & limit financial risk for industry

A letter to the NAA regarding an email they deleted without reading – please retract your amicus in the Abad case in Arizona – it is fraud by a political action committee, the National Apartment Association, that is furthering another fraud by another political action committee, the US Chamber of Commerce

“Changes in construction methods have caused US buildings to become perfect petri dishes for mold and bacteria to flourish when water is added. Instead of warning the public and teaching physicians that the buildings were causing illness; in 2003 the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, a think-tank, and a workers comp physician trade organization mass marketed an unscientific nonsequitor to the courts to disclaim the adverse health effects to stave off liability for financial stakeholders of moldy buildings. Although publicly exposed many times over the years, the deceit lingers in US courts to this very day.” Sharon Noonan Kramer

Information on Riverstone Residential knowingly exposing tenants to extreme amounts of mold toxins at Toxic Mold Infested Jefferson Lakes Apartments in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Toxic Mold Infested Jefferson Lakes Apartments managed by Riverstone Residential

Riverstone Residential Litigation

Mold Inspection Reports

Photos of Mold in Apartment

Attorney Malpractice

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Riverstone Residentitial Litigation – Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board Ethical Conduct Complaint

It is now time for me to fill this out and submit it.

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Complaints must be sent to:

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The phone number for the office is (225) 293-3900

The Louisiana Supreme Court continues to address public concerns regarding attorney misconduct. In 1990, Louisiana’s lawyer discipline system became the first in the nation to incorporate the American Bar Association’s Model Rules for Disciplinary Enforcement, the hallmark of which is the use of non-lawyers in the disciplinary process.

The purposes of lawyer discipline proceedings are:

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The system is administered by a 14 member statewide Attorney Disciplinary Board, four of whom are public members unaffiliated with the legal profession, assisted by 117 hearing committee members, consisting of 78 attorneys and 39 lay representatives.

LADB is Louisiana’s premiere resource for disciplinary case law.

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ETHICAL CONDUCT COMPLAINT

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J Arthur Smith III

 

Information on Riverstone Residential knowingly exposing tenants to extreme amounts of mold toxins at Toxic Mold Infested Jefferson Lakes Apartments in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Toxic Mold Infested Jefferson Lakes Apartments managed by Riverstone Residential

Riverstone Residential Litigation

Mold Inspection Reports

Photos of Mold in Apartment

Attorney Malpractice

EPA CIAQ: GAO Mold Audit Workgroup doesn’t report in – What is going on at the EPA? – Indoor air pollution and mold aren’t top priorities?

Certain Corporate and Government Interests Have Spent Huge Sums of Money and Resources DENYING THE TRUTH about the HEALTH EFFECTS of TOXIC MOLD

Political Action Committee – National Apartment Association (NAA) – files Amicus Brief in mold case (two infant deaths in mold filled apt – Wasatch Prop Mgmt) citing US Chamber/ACOEM ‘litigation defense report’ to disclaim health effects of indoor mold & limit financial risk for industry

A letter to the NAA regarding an email they deleted without reading – please retract your amicus in the Abad case in Arizona – it is fraud by a political action committee, the National Apartment Association, that is furthering another fraud by another political action committee, the US Chamber of Commerce

“Changes in construction methods have caused US buildings to become perfect petri dishes for mold and bacteria to flourish when water is added. Instead of warning the public and teaching physicians that the buildings were causing illness; in 2003 the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, a think-tank, and a workers comp physician trade organization mass marketed an unscientific nonsequitor to the courts to disclaim the adverse health effects to stave off liability for financial stakeholders of moldy buildings. Although publicly exposed many times over the years, the deceit lingers in US courts to this very day.” Sharon Noonan Kramer