EPA Mold Monitor Arrives to Begin Inspecting Buildings (Yeah. . .Right!)

Picayune, LA – Mike Henderson, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency environmental evaluation official, arrived in Louisiana and may be as damaging as the mold itself.

In typical EPA fashion, Henderson was full of misleading information that the public should ignore.  After FEMA, we need not go further to give reason why such misinformation was dispensed by another dubious governmental establishment.  Misleading the public by giving them false hope has been very helpful in saving millions of dollars in mold abatement, proactive, preventative building strategies, and further education on the real health hazards of mold exposure.

Among the comments made by the EPA ‘expert’ that are misleading –

1. Henderson claimed that “the mold everyone hears about is a particular strain of black mold that is especially toxic.”

Not true. There are altogether about thirty molds that can cause permanent neurological, pathological, immunological and psychological damage.  Just as bad as ‘black mold,’ also known as Stachybotrys is Chaetomium, which can also destroy the myelin sheath; the protective fatty area surrounding nerves. Chaetomium is green, not black, and just as dangerous as Stachybotrys, a common mold found in many water-damaged buildings.  Both are equally devastating to one’s health, and there are many others that have been documented as permanent neurological, pathological, psychological and immunological health threats.

2. Henderson went on with more mold misinformation. “However, any molds in large enough quantities can cause serious health problems for children, the elderly; the immune impaired such as cancer patients, transplant recipients and others; asthmatics and others with respiratory diseases, and the chronically ill.”

This was a long-winded approach to a phrase that has no basis for its so-called validity.  It was also apparently very well practiced. This bogus statement was a desperate attempt of giving false hope to anyone exposed.  What this EPA jokester is really saying that these T-2 mycotoxins which many of these molds have been proven to cause, which are the exact same T-2 mycotoxins which have been used in ?yellow rain.? So, in essence, Mike Henderson claims that biological warfare agents are perfectly safe in your home as long as you are not ‘susceptible’ with any other health problems.    Actually, there have never been any studies done to confirm this allegation.  Truthfully, T-2 mycotoxins are some of the most toxic substances to mankind, proven to alter DNA synthesis, mitogen B/T lymphocyte blastogenesis suppression, decrease of IgM, IgG, IgA; impaired macrophage activity and migration-chemotaxis, among many other devastating effects.

The only fact that mold misinformers use these statements is because it’s either a convenient cover-up or they are extremely uneducated and ignorant.

3. “With a lot of mold present, anyone can be affected, though.”

What is this supposed to mean?  That’s what he was supposedly talking about!  A lot of mold present.  The careful wording selected by these mold misinformers is led to make people hear what they want to.  Combined with the above mentioned statements, the general consensus among ignorant and trusting people is that mold probably won’t affect them because they are healthy, and again, Henderson heavily downplayed the toxicity problems and the obvious real problem.

4. “I can help with recommendations to correct the problem and get them up and running again,” Henderson said.

Recommendations to correct the problem?  Coming from a man who has been doling out misleading information from the time he arrived in Louisiana makes this sound like a rather sublime problem, but don’t believe it for a minute.

5. He warned that testing could take several weeks but that the priorities are first public buildings such as schools and churches and other places where large groups of people congregate.

Testing could take up to a week or even less, if necessary. That depends on how important obtaining accurate and ethical they want to be.

6. “Materials collected from buildings suspected of being infected with dangerous molds are sent to national independent laboratories for testing.”

The biggest resource that many mold misinformers rely on is hiring national independent laboratories of their choice.  Just like independent medical examiners are rarely, if ever, independent, ethical doctors (most are high-priced insurance whores who would sell their own mother out for the right price), many laboratories tend to ‘hire’ themselves out with the intent of obtaining inaccurate tests.  They utilize many tricks of the trade to try and ‘prove’ there are little, or no environmental pathogens.  Obtaining samples from less suspect places, hiring food labs as opposed to professional environmental labs, and obtaining air tests as opposed to tangible samples are just a few tricks that many unscrupulous use to hide the painful and expensive truth.

Regardless of air spore counts, which many mold misinformers prefer, any spore counts regardless of numbers, can be dangerous since the type of fungi that is found can demonstrate length of exposure/contamination, extent of damage, health consequences, etc.  Air tests are only a snapshot in time and in many cases can do more harm than good depending on how the results are disseminated.

7. “The city is going to give us a list of priority buildings. … We depend on what a city or county wants to do,” Henderson said. He said any building that suffered from “water intrusion needs to be tested. Anything that got wet we should evaluate. Anything that was wet for two or more days especially needs to be tested,” Henderson said.

Mold can proliferate within 24 to 48 hours.  Henderson was correct when he said that every building should be tested that suffered water intrusion. It?s refreshing to obtain some accurate information from the EPA.

Those who believe their home or building needs testing should contact Whitfield on the third floor of Picayune City Hall.  But always ask questions and find the truth.  In this instance education can not only give you power, but may keep you healthy, above all.

See who the independent lab is that they have selected.  What client base does this lab test for normally?  If they test commercial buildings, schools, for landlords or insurance companies, be wary, as many labs or testing companies who cater to this clientele can be unreliable, corrupt and unethical.

What do the real experts say honestly about this crisis?

Department of Environmental Quality was in the unfortunate position of being responsible for protecting the environment in a situation where that did not seem possible.  Pumping out water from flooded cities such as New Orleans is going to be a horrendous and dangerous job I the aftermath.

Van Heerden and Rodney Mallett, communications director for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, say there do not appear to be any choices other than to pump the water into Lake Pontchartrain or the Mississippi River, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico, a key maritime spawning ground.

“I don’t see how we could treat all that water,” Mallett said.

The result could be a second wave of disaster for southern Louisiana, said Harold Zeliger, a Florida-based chemical toxicologist and water quality consultant. “In effect, it’s going to kill everything in those waters,” he said.

The water will leave behind more trouble – a city filled with mold, much of it toxic, experts have said. After other floods, researchers found many buildings had to be stripped back to concrete, or razed.

“If you have a building half full of water, everything above the water is growing mold. When it dries out, the rest grows mold,” Zeliger said. “Most of the buildings will have to be destroyed.”  Actually, if the cities of New Orleans and Biloxi are not bulldozed, and properly rebuilt using ethical contractors who don’t cut corners and effective fungal resistant materials, this problem will become one of the biggest environmental catastrophes in United States history.  Many experts agree that if these authorities can downplay the real health threats of mold, they can rely on public ignorance and save billions.

It will be truly interesting and sad to see what happens to all of the water damaged buildings.  This will be a true test on how honest and responsible this administration really is.  Ahh, who said ignorance was bliss?  In this respect it could even cost you your life if you are not proactive, resourceful, and cautious.

Author: Carolyn Willbanks