Southwyck mall safe for now

Toledo, Ohio â€" Southwyck Shopping Mall in Toledo, Ohio, has had some trouble recently, with claims of asbestos and toxic black mold discovered in the building, but after several inspections, the mall has been allowed to remain open for now. The mall’s problems began over a week ago, when City Building Inspection Commissioner Chris Zervos said that the present condition of the mall was enough of a health hazard for employees and the public that the building might have to be closed. Zervos told the mall’s management that they had just 72 hours to clean up the mold and contain the asbestos to prevent further exposure risks, or they would close the mall. Inspections carried out at the mall on May 2 showed signs of toxic black mold in the mall’s main concourse, and uncontained asbestos in a currently vacant area of the mall. However, Zervos said that maintenance personnel may be at risk of exposure to asbestos, and might inadvertently track the dangerous fibers into areas of the mall that are currently in use. Southwyck Shopping Mall management responded by releasing a statement saying they were “surprised by the City of Toledo’s allegations that any unsafe conditions exist in the Mall since the City has conducted regular inspections for the past several years…and until today we had never been notified of anything of this nature.” The statement also said that mall management had taken the city’s allegations seriously and had engaged a third party inspector to survey the problems on May 9. The results of that third party inspection didn’t find any evidence of the problems that the initial May 2 inspection had alleged, however. According to the third-party inspector, from Watterson Environmental Group of Sylvania, the May 9 inspection found “no visible evidence of suspect mold growth on the interior, exposed surfaces of the skylights of the mall,” and “no obvious visible evidence that any airborne asbestos debris is being tracked into the mall.” Baker also said that the mall owners had not received “the results of any analytical tests by the city or anyone else which would lead us to conclude that any asbestos dust has escaped from the sealed-off.” As a result, the mall has been allowed to remain open and in operation. However, Chris Zervos says the city is still waiting on the results of air monitoring tests that were carried out by the Ohio Safety and Health Administration before making a final decision. In addition, the mall has until June 2 to address problems relating to its fire suppression systems. (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)