There’s been some intensive summer cleaning at the Omniplex over the past few weeks as crews have been working to eliminate a black mould problem discovered in areas of the building.

After discovering what looked like mold in an isolated area of the Omniplex in May a sample was sent away for testing and returned confirming that the Omniplex did indeed have some black mould (strachybotrys atra).

Bob White, occupational health and safety co-ordinator for the town of Drayton Valley, said once the tests came back a company was brought in to inspect the rest of the facility for mold. Once other areas had been identified a company was brought in to remove the problem and clean the affected areas.

All affected areas were sealed off to the public while remediation was taking place but White said in some cases it was a very quick process and areas such as the kitchen and curling club were only closed for a short time.
 
“All precautions were taken to protect the public and the staff,” said White. “As soon as it was noticed we went in and took appropriate measures.”

Three separate companies were brought in to investigate the problem, clean and remove the mould. White said it’s always important to involve companies that understand the problem, something he doesn’t have extensive knowledge of. He said this was the first incident of mould he’s seen or heard of at the Omniplex.

“The reason we brought in the companies is because they deal with this on a daily basis and we don’t,” said White. “You always refer to the experts.”

White said once the teams came in to clean the affected areas the process went very quickly and activities continued in the unaffected areas as normal. He said all users and groups were told about the mould situation and it was never an issue as events such as the farmers’ market and Big West Quarter Horse show went on as usual.

Now that the mould has been removed, White said the next step is to find the source and eliminate it as well, so there’s no recurrence of the problem. He points out that mould needs moisture and food to grow and crews are continuing to look for the source.

Crews finished cleaning up the mould in the Omniplex last week and White said they were just waiting on final testing to ensure everything was removed. The results of those tests were expected back late last week and all areas of the Omniplex were expected to be re-opened once it was determined that all traces of the black mould had been removed.
 

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