Marines fighting mold problem at Parris Island - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Marines fighting mold problem at Parris Island

A mold outbreak over the summer at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., destroyed thousands of dollars worth of Marines’ personal property, and those with rooms in the affected barracks say problems persist despite abatement efforts.

Trouble surfaced in July after work crews completed a months-long project to install new air conditioning at barracks buildings 929, 930 and 931, which were built in 1975 and now house 104 Marines, according to Marine officials at Parris Island and the Pentagon, which issued a joint response to questions about the mold outbreak. Some pipes weren’t properly insulated, causing condensation to form, and because fan settings weren’t properly calibrated, rooms cooled too quickly without sufficiently clearing the air of moisture.

Mold took root on walls, doors, ceilings and inside lockers, according to three drill instructors with rooms in the barracks. They spoke to Marine Corps Times on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to speak to the media. Photos reviewed by Marine Corps Times support their claims.

Apart from DIs, other residents of the barracks include personnel assigned as base support staff.

Mold ruined several uniform items, the Marines said, and at least one piece of furniture, an upholstered La-Z-Boy reclining chair. Residents have cleaned the mold repeatedly, but it keeps growing back, they said.

While solid surfaces can easily be cleaned of mold with a sponge and diluted bleach, porous surfaces — such as upholstery — can prove problematic. The Environmental Protection Agency often recommends that contaminated furniture and carpet be discarded. In fact, several moldy rugs were removed from barracks rooms and thrown out, officials said. Additionally, Marines were reassigned to new rooms if theirs were suspected of having mold, they said.

One DI said he was moved to another room that also had mold in it.

Since the summer, Marine officials said, the depot has taken a number of measures that have “mitigated” the mold. As part of that effort in July, new insulation was added to the chilled water pipes in all 84 rooms across all three buildings. In August, fan settings were adjusted so the AC could run longer and better dehumidify the air. Finally, in late November, new digital thermostats were installed to better control temperature throughout the buildings.

These efforts have helped somewhat, Marines acknowledge, but they note the buildings still stink of mold and that new growth continues to pop up on walls, doors and other surfaces. Moreover, they are upset the Marine Corps has not compensated them for the damage to their property.

“I had uniform upon uniform ruined, and they told me it was my problem, I had to pay for it,” one DI said. “I’d say it has cost me at least a couple hundred dollars. I had to get my stuff dry cleaned and buy a new blues blouse. Every single one of us is just throwing out uniforms. I probably have like five Charlie shirts, three Bravo shirts that I haven’t even taken out of the plastic yet, and they are probably ruined. … This wasn’t my fault. This problem was not due to my negligence.”

The DI said also that he had to throw out a recliner for which he paid nearly $1,000. Mold infested his chair over the summer, and it proved impossible to clean sufficiently, he said.

“I brought it from my storage unit to give my room a little bit of relaxation style, and it got destroyed,” he said. “It’s like it happened overnight.”

Marine officials said “mold is not a recurring problem in barracks 929, 930 or 931.” When personal property is damaged on base as a result of mold or water, personnel can submit a claim and formally petition the legal office for compensation, Marine officials said. There was one “reported case” of damaged uniforms and civilian clothes linked to the summer’s mold outbreak, officials said, “but we have no records of any such claims being submitted.

“Personnel should seek assistance through their chain of command to determine proper procedures for claim submissions at their installation,” Marine officials said.

The Marines said their chain of command was of no help.

A fact of life

Mold will grow indoors anywhere there is moisture, and the Marine Corps has facilities in many humid environments. Headquarters does not track how much money is spent every year on mold eradication and cleanup efforts, according to Marine officials at the Pentagon, but “recent input” from several East Coast installations shows annual costs there ranging between $5,000 and $12,000.

Most base mold problems are dealt with locally, headquarters officials said, but when large-scale projects are required, the Corps makes sure money is available. Such was the case when mold was reported recently at Camp Allen in Norfolk, Va., home to Marine Corps Forces Command and Marine Corps Security Forces Regiment, officials said.

“Mold is ubiquitous,” officials at Parris Island said, “and there are so many types of naturally occurring molds in the South Carolina semi-tropical environment.”

Since late 2009, there have been 33 reports of mold at the depot, officials said. A third of the cases were “properly cleaned by the tenant and the remainder were cleaned by the installation.”

Over the past five years, more than $290,000 has been spent combating mold in various buildings at Parris Island, officials there said. There have been four mold cases since 2006 that were “beyond the organic capability of the installation to mitigate,” officials said, so contractors were hired to fix problems at the Headquarters and Service Battalion headquarters, Recruit Training Facility, a food storage area and the Weapons Battalion Headquarters.

Prevention is critical, base officials say. A few simple practices can help prevent mold.

Marines should keep windows closed during the heating and cooling seasons to prevent condensation, use ventilation fans in bathrooms, and ensure clothing is clean and dry — especially physical training gear — before storing in a dark closet or drawer. Also, spills should be promptly cleaned, and all ventilation or climate control systems should be left on when Marines leave base for extended periods.

“Moisture control is the key to mold control,” officials said in their email. “Promptly reporting any suspected facilities maintenance issues, such as water leaks and excessive condensation, to installation facilities maintenance personnel will help prevent mold growth from occurring in the first place.”

The Corps considers it a safety issue — mold can cause health problems in some instances — and implores leaders “at all levels” to make sure facilities are kept clean.

Health risks

While mold spores are usually harmless to humans and can be found even in the tidiest of homes, an overwhelming indoor colony can cause illness. The most common ailments are mild allergic reactions, such as itchy eyes, skin irritation or respiratory symptoms like a dry cough, and nasal and sinus congestion, said John Muller, a doctor with the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Department of the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center in Portsmouth, Va.

Mold can grow in the body, however, and that can lead to serious infections. Fortunately, most young, healthy adults aren’t at risk, Muller said. Infections are typically seen only in those with suppressed immune systems, including cancer patients, people with HIV or AIDS, or those who have recently received an organ transplant and are taking immunosuppressant drugs.

Some types of mold produce dangerous chemicals, called mycotoxins, that can lead to memory problems, mood changes and fever.

“We hear about people that are concerned about mycotoxins because they are poisonous, but as far as what is in the indoor air, you’re really not going to find that in a building,” Muller said.

Even if you smell mold, that doesn’t mean you are breathing in toxins. The molecules you smell don’t pose a serious health risk, he said. They go airborne because they are smaller and lighter than the mycotoxin molecules, which you would be more likely to be exposed to by eating moldy food.

“Generally, normal healthy people don’t have to be concerned unless there is some overwhelming exposure, and by overwhelming I mean walking into a place that has so much mold you can’t even see across the room because of the dust in the air that is filled with mold. And that doesn’t usually happen except in farm environments or something,” he said.

Only one Marine interviewed by Marine Corps Times complained of coldlike symptoms. Mold could be a contributing factor, he said, but he was hesitant to pin it exclusively on his living quarters. “Recruit crud” could have something to do with it, he suggested.

“I’m around a million recruits, and everybody always gets sick,” he said. “But something has to be going on. I’m sitting there and breathing [mold spores] in.”

Other DIs point out the intense demands of their job — most workdays span 17 hours from the time they wake up to the time they come home at night — and say, quite simply, that they deserve better. One put it this way: “It is not suitable living conditions for anybody, but, especially not for the level of activity that the job that we do requires. To get off work and have to come home and go into something like this, it just adds to the stress … you already have to deal with.”

Staff writer Andrew deGrandpré contributed to this report.