THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, December 26, 1994 TAG: 9412260033
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
Jerry M. Douglas Jr. had not heard about the sewage line that backed up last summer and soiled the carpet of the Judicial Center's Wahab Public Law Library.
When he recovered from his third lung infection this fall, Douglas stopped by the library Dec. 9 to do some research. There, he found a sign announcing the library would be closed for recarpeting from Dec. 12 until Jan. 3.
Only then did he realize his health problems might be related to the library itself.
``I spoke to the girls behind the information desk, and they told me about their lung infections,'' said Douglas, a real estate lawyer. ``I didn't stick around any longer than that. I got out of there right away.''
Opened in July 1993 as the crown jewel of the city's municipal complex, the $38.2 million Judicial Center is a 319,000-square-foot monument to criminal justice. Complete with escalators, elevators, 23 courtrooms and a security system that rivals most airports', the center also has been the subject of legal squabbles between the general contractor and the city.
Now, a clogged sewer line - and the resulting spill of contaminated water that may have been related to a temporary power failure last summer - is suspected as a cause of the allergic reactions among some library workers and patrons.
``I've never had (lung infections) before,'' Douglas said. ``Normally, you catch those things from people, but I don't know anyone whose had one. I have two children, a 7- and a 9-year-old. Usually, I catch what they catch. But they have not been sick with this. It was out of the ordinary. And I had two of them in October and one in November. As soon as I got well, I would get it again.''
Douglas believes the contaminated carpet is the culprit, and he's not the only one. Two library employees also have come down with a grab-bag of ailments.
``I came down with sinusitis. I got ear infections. I was sneezing all the time,'' said Jeannie C. Whitehurst, information specialist with the public library system that staffs the law library.
``I had watery, burning eyes and ear infections. I just kept getting worse and worse. I was on antibiotics for several months.''
Whitehurst explained part of her symptoms as the effects of recovering from tonsillectomy and pneumonia, which occurred before the sewer leak. But she believes the condition within the basement-level library unnecessarily prolonged her recovery.
Whitehurst said problems subsided when she left work in the evenings, an all-too-familiar scenario recognized by Pat Jones, who worked with her at the library.
Jones said she, too, developed unexplained headaches, runny eyes and an unusual bout of sneezing after the leak was discovered in a utility closet. But she was not sure the problems were connected to the sewage leak.
``If you have a headache, or congestion, it's hard to say what causes it or if it's related,'' Jones said. ``There is so much new material there. It's all new. We had complaints, but whether there is a direct correlation to the leak, I don't know.''
Jones considered the irritations minor. They have subsided. She dismissed the problems, but is glad the city is replacing the carpet as a precaution.
Both women have been temporarily reassigned to municipal libraries until the new carpet is installed. Douglas said he is doing his legal research at Regent University's law library.
Jody W. Mixon, an industrial hygienist with the city's occupational safety department, said tests performed by Oshealth Inc., a local industrial hygiene company, found three types of bacteria not commonly associated with water backups or standard carpet soil.
The company recommended the carpet be cleaned, but two cleaning efforts did not abate the complaints. The city then ordered the carpet replaced at a cost of $12,432.
``We are taking extra precautions when we remove the carpet,'' Mixon said, explaining that the work area will be sealed off by plastic sheeting and that special air handlers will contain any bacteria that might become dislodged in the removal.
``That way, we won't have airborne contaminants that could get into the courthouse's air circulation system,'' she said. ``It will also be removed in 4-foot sections and the cement slab underneath will be cleaned with a bleach solution as a precaution.
``I hope this will be our answer.''
Scott Watson, a city inspector, said the sewer problem developed in a clean-out line that leads to a library utility closet. Building codes require sewer lines to have access points every 50 feet. These access points are called clean-out lines and, as their name implies, are intended to give maintenance workers access to sewer lines in case they become clogged, he said.
Problems with the line should not recur, he said, because the city raised the height of the line. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Jerry M. Douglas Jr. had three lung infections this fall - from, he
suspects, contaminants at the Judicial Center's law library.
by CNB