Why close down St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard for 10 days and spend $150 million on a dangerous procedure to clear mold when the project could be completed for a fraction of the cost and risk?

That is Kevin Riley’s question. Riley is the president of Environmental Testing Associates, Inc., a Los Angeles-based company that, among other things, consults and trains companies on indoor air quality issues like mold.

St. John’s has tentative plans to close in phases beginning July 30 so it can be tented to eradicate mold contamination. Like other critics, Riley is concerned that the plan to fill the hospital with chlorine dioxide gas to kill the mold would keep it closed far too long and put a strain on other hospitals in Ventura County. But Riley warns that the process proposed by Sabre Technical Services, Inc. — the Watervliet, N.Y.-based company St. John’s has asked to conduct the remediation — could run the risk of an explosion that would threaten a nearby neighborhood.

“Someone needs to be aware that this is a tremendous fire risk for the city of Oxnard,” he said. “This could be the most catastrophic even in the history of our county and no one’s even talking about it.”

Sabre Technical Services, Inc. did not respond to telephone and email requests for comment for this story.
Rita O’Connor, a spokeswoman for St. John’s, said in an email that chlorine dioxide gas tenting and treating was selected as the method St. John’s would use after considering alternative techniques.

“The process is the fastest way to ensure that we restore the hospital to full capacity and return to normal operations, with the least disruption possible to our hospital and to the community,” she said.

Chlorine dioxide has been used in water treatment since 1940. Beginning in the 1980’s it has been used to treat food. After Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, Sabre Technical Services used chlorine dioxide to kill mold in structures flooded in New Orleans.

“Chlorine dioxide is a safe and effective compound that permeates a structure and is used to kill mold on a very large scale,” O’Connor said in her email. “The level of concentration of the Chlorine Dioxide gas that will be used during this process is not flammable.”

But Riley said that the chlorine dioxide treatment is not safe.

“It is not even approved for use in our industry,” Riley said

The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) has not approved the chlorine dioxide tenting process as an effective mold remediation method. There remains a debate in trade journals and online discussion groups about its effectiveness. Even a report from the U.S. Army warns against its use.
“The use of gaseous ozone or chlorine dioxide for remedial purposes is not recommended,” the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medice said in a 2002 report. “Both compounds are highly toxic and contamination of occupied space may pose a health threat. Furthermore, the effectiveness of these treatments is unproven.”

Similar warnings can be found in documents, reports, and policies from a number of federal departments as well as state and county agencies.

But a more detailed report also exists suggesting that the process may be effective. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Technology Testing and Evaluation Program evaluated Sabre’s approach in a study it reported in April, 2006. The report suggests that the gas eliminated all spores in 95 percent of test cases. Viable microorganisms were found in the other 5 percent. The tests were conducted in a laboratory

Still, Riley believes that the technology is not proven and the risks are too high. He said another technology offered by Thermapure, a company based in Ventura County, offers a cheaper, safer alternative. That process involves heating an affected building one section at a time.

That process would not require the hospital to close, and would be unlikely to cost more than $15 million
Riley said he is not affiliated with Thermapure and that his company only tests for the presence of mold. He said he would be happy to offer his services to the hospital as a sounding board for Sabre’s technology free of charge, but he has not been contacted to do so. He also said Thermapure has not been contacted.

“How do you make that choice between the two without doing any due diligence?” he said. “It just doesn’t make sense”

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