ORANGE VILLAGE Resident will get chance to prove mold case for panel

The case goes before a three-member panel of arbiters Monday.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Margie Small believes that uncontrolled mold growth in an apartment her family occupied in Orange Village destroyed her furniture and damaged her family's health.
She wants Orange Village to pay for her lost furniture, but, more important, she wants to make sure no one else experiences the same problems her family did.
Small, who now lives in an apartment on Bolde Drive, will get a chance to prove her case in court Monday.
A three-member panel of arbiters, comprising local attorneys, is set to hear it at 1 p.m. Monday in the Mercer County Courthouse.
Suit against husband
The case started as an Orange Village suit against Small's husband, Richard, as the signed tenant at the apartment complex on Orange Drive, for damages to one apartment the family vacated in 2002 as it moved into another unit in the complex.
The Smalls left their furniture behind in the first apartment because it had been ruined by mold, Margie Small said.
The Orange Village suit, filed in January 2004, said holes had to be repaired and wallpaper, doors and carpeting had to be replaced in the unit and asked for $1,539 in damages.
The Smalls filed a countersuit in September, alleging negligence and negligent misrepresentation on the part of Orange Village.
Margie Small said mold growth in the apartment had adversely affected her children's health and made them sick.
Health effects
The counterclaim charges that the complex had a duty to safely repair water leaks and damage that resulted in the growth of dangerous mold and affected the physical health of the Smalls and their nine children.
Further, it alleges that Orange Village said that appropriate steps were taken to deal with the mold, but, in fact, those repairs consisted primarily of various actions designed to only conceal the presence of the mold.
An attorney representing Orange Village in the case declined to comment, saying she had no permission from her client to discuss it.
Margie Small said the mold got so bad that it infiltrated the family's beds and other furniture.
Apartment tested
She became concerned about its presence and had the apartment tested by AGX Inc., an environmental consultant from Wexford, Pa.
A report from AGX received in April 2004 said the testing found mold-contaminated materials in the laundry room, including Stachybotrys, considered toxic because of its ability to produce toxins that can be extremely hazardous to people with low immunity.
Air sampling in the apartment found that the indoor air quality of the apartment was degraded by the presence of Stachybotrys and Aspergillus/Penicillium spores.
High contamination
The water-damaged building materials in the apartment had high fungus contamination, the report said. The report added that precautionary measures should be implemented immediately to prevent expansion of the fungal growth and minimize risk of exposure to occupants.
Small said complaints to Orange Village management while her family lived there brought repairs that merely covered up the mold but didn't deal with it.
This isn't hurting just Orange Village residents, she said, noting that furniture moved to other locations carries the mold spores with it and that people can carry the spores on their clothing, contaminating places they visit.