Toxic mold will be removed from Moon Area High School on Saturday while students and faculty are gone for the weekend, school officials said Wednesday.
An Allegheny County Health Department inspector visited the school yesterday and district officials met with consultants. The mold was discovered last week near a water-damaged area of the first floor.
Officials sealed off the area, including a stairwell and two bathrooms, while the school remained open. District officials have been working with PSI Engineering Testing and Consulting since the discovery and plan to have the rest of the school evaluated.
"They're doing everything right," Health Department spokesman Dave Zazac said. "There is no outstanding health threat at this time."
This is at least the second appearance of mold at the school in four years. Dripping water lines caused mold to form on the ceiling above the cafeteria in 2003. Officials replaced tiles and insulated piping.
The Health Department has mandated similar corrections to water-damaged parts of the ceiling this year. Ceilings outside two first-floor bathrooms and inside one of them had bubbled plaster, which is evidence of water damage.
However, the mold growth was small and unlikely to spread, according to officials. The spot of mold from a strain called stachybotrys was so small that inspectors had to climb closer to the ceiling in order to spot it, Zazac said.
"Depending on the sensitivity of the person, if they're mold sensitive they can have a reaction," he said. "But this spot was so tiny, the chances of that are pretty remote right now."
Mold concentration in the air around the infected area was still lower than normal outdoor levels, said school board President Mark E. Limbruner.
"It's important for us to clean it up, but it's not an emergency situation where it's going to spread throughout the rest of the building," he said.
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