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Nationwide remediation expert PDG Environmental discusses what owners, managers, and insurers need to know about the leading cause of mold infestation and how to handle the dreaded mold fallout.
For shell-shocked property owners, managers, and insurance professionals, the bad news about mold liability and legislation has yet to hit bottom-- and, water damage is behind it.
The latest salvo comes from celebrity Ed McMahon who's suing a subsidiary of Traveler's Property Casualty Corporation for $20 million, claiming that an improperly repaired leak covered by the company lead to the mold stachybotrys chartarum spreading through his Beverly Hills mansion, making him and his wife seriously ill and killing their dog. He joins a long line of plaintiffs, including Erin Brockovich, who have sued for toxic mold damages since the Texas homeowner Melinda Ballard won a $32-million suit against Farmers Insurance in 2000.
In Texas alone, water-related mold claims have exploded from 883 in Q1 2000 to 5,722 in Q2 2001 with losses reaching $276.5 million for the period, according to the Texas Insurance Department, which tabulated data for Allstate, State Farm, and Farmers Insurance.
On the legislative front, Representative John Conyers (D-MI) plans to introduce in the US House of Representatives The Toxic Mold Safety and Protection Act, which would call on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue guidelines defining threshold limits for mold. This comes on the heels of California's recently enacted Toxic Mold Protection Act, which directs state health officials to set limits for homes, schools, businesses, and public buildings. It also requires landlords to disclose when the mold limits are exceeded.
By now, it's abundantly clear to property professionals that mold is the worst thing to hit the industry since asbestos. What needs clarification, before it's too late, is the insidious role water damage plays in mold growth.
Any Water Damage Puts Your Property at Risk of Toxic Mold
"Simply put, any structure with water leaks, water damage, or a history of such is at risk of developing mold," said John Regan, Chairman and CEO of PDG Environmental (OTC BB PDGE), a nationwide leader in the environmental remediation industry since 1984. "The fact is mold can develop anywhere there is a food source, sufficient temperature, and water. These...