The air quality in a Hartford state office building was deemed safe earlier this week after Gov. M Jodi Rell requested a study at the behest of public employees who had health concerns.
The building at 25 Sigourney St. was called “habitable” by building-science consulting firm The H.L. Turner Group, but the Department of Public Works said the building can be made safer. The report focused on air-quality issues at the building and noted the previously unidentified improper ventilation of the high-capacity photocopy/printer machines in the facility. Air from the print shops actually vents into the building’s upper floors, where employee complaints about air quality have been concentrated.
The study also found mold growth in the building’s duct work, but the levels are well within the currently accepted standard. The study states that “the building often provides shelter from multiple urban pollutants that originate outside the building.” In other words, the air outside the building is less safe than the air inside.
Rell this week ordered the DPW to begin implementing the report’s recommendations to improve the building’s environment, including the installation of ventilation systems for copy/print centers in the building and a renewed effort to eliminate mold in the facility’s duct work.
“We demand so much of these public employees every day, and they deserve to know that their workplaces have clean, healthy air, free from any pollutants man-made or otherwise,” Rell said in a prepared statement. “I am confident that the short- and longer-term remedies I am ordering for 25 Sigourney St. will properly serve our needs and our employees.”
Safety Is ‘Paramount’
About 1,200 state employees work in the 20-story building, and those with documented building-related health concerns will be relocated, according to Rell. So far, 16 state employees have been moved.
“The environmental safety and well-being of every state employee is paramount, and I will use this report to ensure that every step is taken and every effort is made to bring this building to the highest possible environmental standards,” Rell said.
DPW Commissioner James T. Fleming said his department has hired a consultant to begin addressing the print shop ventilation issues, adding that steps are already being taken to eliminate any mold in the duct work. Fleming noted that one print operation in the building already has been shut down.
To date, the state has spent about $8 million to fix building deficiencies including mold and moisture abatement, carpet and drywall replacement, dust reduction, air filter replacements and other measures.
Some other recommendations in the report were to investigate the HVAC system and the outdoor air delivery, humidification and ventilation; to continue to manage any current “moisture incursion” that occurs and consider evaluating the feasibility of redesigning the exterior envelope and other options to minimize or stop the potential for water to enter the building; and to have each agency in the building remedially clean its materials before they are moved or disturbed and further evaluate options to reduce the irritation being caused by certain paper materials.