Wednesday, June 23, 2004
SHARON, Pa. -- A test for carcinogens, mold and other toxic substances in city hall has apparently turned up nothing of concern.
The final report isn't in the city's hands yet, but Fire Chief Arthur Scarmack, who handled the testing project, said a preliminary verbal report from Microbac Laboratories Inc. of Erie, which did the testing, indicated there were no findings to warrant concern that there is something in city hall making employees sick.
Mayor David O. Ryan initiated the tests after employees began raising concerns about the relatively high number of cancer cases to hit city employees and officials in recent years.
The city treasurer, two members of council and at least three city employees who worked in the building have died of various forms of cancer. At least three more employees have come down with the disease.
Those affected ranged in age from their late 30s to about 60.
Ryan said he decided to have the testing done to be sure there wasn't something in the building causing health problems.
City hall was built in 1978, financed with a $2.7 million federal grant, in an urban renewal area of the city that once was a residential district known as Ohio Street.