Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Sept. 21, 2004

WILMINGTON, N.C. – An exterior sheathing board, Georgia Pacific’s Densglass Gold brand, installed between the wall studs and the brick of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington’s Westside Hall addition and renovation project, has been found to be defective. A glue containing an organic substance on which mold feeds was mistakenly used in the manufacture of the sheathing board. In order to best remedy this problem, Georgia Pacific and Barnhill Construction have determined to remove the sheathing from the outside, which requires removing the brick as well.

Mold has been discovered at the joints between the approximately four-foot by eight-foot sheets of sheathing of Westside Hall. In order to completely remove the sheathing and the mold, the brick will be removed one section at a time. The sheathing will then be removed and replaced one board at a time. Tenting will extend from the roof to the scaffolding and interior work can continue to progress while this remedial work is done.

Similar problems with this sheathing have been discovered in several other building projects in North Carolina under the purview of the State Construction Office. Because these problems are directly linked to a manufacturer’s defect and not to any negligence on the part of the university or any of its contractors, the work will be done at no cost to UNCW or to the UNC system. All costs related to this remediation effort will be borne by Georgia Pacific. The remediation process will be accomplished within the guidelines approved by the State Construction Office.

“Mold is a naturally occurring phenomenon, particularly in the humid southeast,” according to Deb Tew, UNCW lab and environmental safety officer.

“Densglass Gold was originally chosen for its mold resistant properties, and the building was designed to minimize the potential for mold growth. It is unfortunate that this manufacturer’s defect has occurred in a product that normally sets the standard for mold resistance. However, the remediation plan for Westside Hall, which has been reviewed and approved by the Environmental Health and Safety Office, has been designed to prevent the introduction of mold spores from this product into the building,” Tew said. In addition, an independent industrial hygienist will monitor the building before any remediation work begins. Further monitoring will occur at completion of the project.

When the construction work on Westside Hall is completed, the 42,000-square-foot facility will be dedicated to an integrative response model for academic and student support services and will house the Counseling Center, Student Health Center, Pharmacy, Disability Services, National Testing and CROSSROADS: Substance Abuse Prevention/Education departments.

The Westside construction project is now expected to be finished in late November or early December.