Re: Oak Ridge Elementary Sickness
Posted by John McBride on 7/02/09
Dear Oak Ridge Parent: I do understand why you are supportive of Linda May's
actions. It is vitally important to have help in getting the
possibility that mold could be causing the illnesses and
posing serious health hazards to the occupants at the Oak
Ridge school. It is great that someone was there to help
bring more notice to the issue. What I am afraid of is that
at the end of the day, the lack of credentials and a history
of self-promotion could be used to deny such claims. Touting
false and scientifically flaud claims together with un-
provable credentials, can only serve to weaken your cause. I
strongly recommend that you try and enlist the help of
credentialed and very well respected authorities on mold and
the other contaminants that are associated, such as bacteria
and protozoa. I would suggest names like Dr. Jack Thrasher
and Dr. Kaye Kilburn. Both of these gentlemen have extensive
provable resumes and have published many peer-reviewed
papers on this issue. The powers that be who would want to
deny the dangers of mold and whether it is the causation of
the illnesses present, would find it much more difficult to
do in the presence of these two men. I am in New Jersey and
have personally addressed similar situations and know how
hard it is and I am offering this advice because all of what
is at stake and how important it is to make sure that you
are well represented. Please feel free to contact me if you
would like to discuss this further.
On 7/01/09, Oak Ridge Citizen wrote:
> I am one of the original members of the group that bought
> Linda May into our situation at Oak Ridge. The amount of
> sickness we have had at our school among children and
> faculty has been both distressing and alarming. Ongoing
> problems for 4 years finally came to a head at our school
> thanks to Linda May. We have a lot of issues with the
> school district and have no faith in what they have done
> to help our students and staff. In fact, they knowingly
> put children and staff into the new school building in
> 2005 with mold already in it. Ongoing roof leaks, poor
> construction, lack of fresh air ventilation, and other
> factors have contributed to further mold growth. Moldy
> carpets have been ripped up with people still present in
> the building and the HVAC system still running. Correct
> proticol per OSHA and the CDC has not been followed. Each
> time this was done, students and staff became sicker. The
> situation is deplorable and I and many others are appalled
> at the response from the school system. Various
> environmental reports show that indoor air mold spore
> counts were too high in parts of the building to even
> enumerate. Frequent nose bleeds (one child from her
> eyes), burning eyes and throat, skin rashes, unusual
> headaches, nausea, fatigue, metallic tingly sensation in
> mouth, deteriation of sight, ongoing sinus and bronchial
> infections, are some of the symptoms that children and
> teachers have been experiencing. Up until Linda May
> arrived, our school district was not responding in an
> appropriate manner. Linda helped the community lodge a
> NCDOL complaint, she spoke in front of the school board,
> and held a community forum (Paul Clark's comments were
> taken out of context and very poor journalism). Linda did
> not charge a cent nor ask for anything in return. The
> school is now closed for the summer and NIOSH is coming in
> to investigate. In addition, NCDOL is involved now too.
> Linda has been instrumental in keeping the school system
> accountable and ensuring that the students and staff are
> not subjected to this any longer.
>
> A local physicians office has been inundated with sickness
> from children and staff from the school. Blood test
> results show extremely high levels (class 4) of antibodies
> to aspergillus and penicillium. These molds have been
> throughout our school for 4 years. According to Dr.
> Robinson (NC Director of Public Health), these antibody
> tests shows that these people are healthy and that their
> bodies are functioning correctly.
>
> The NC Dept of Health refuses to acknowledge that mold has
> caused any health issues at Oak Ridge. How can they be
> allowed to stand behind these statements? It seems that
> there are a lot of political games being played at the
> expense of our children's health. Shame on the school
> system and the Dept of Health for not putting safety and
> health first.
>
> What a deplorable situation that would be much worse
> without the help of Linda May.
>
> Four years of this is unnacceptable and our children and
> teachers deserve better.
>
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