PORTABLE'S LOCATION AT FAULT? SITE OVER DRAIN MAY BE CAUSE OF MOLD GROWTH.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer

The portable classroom being tested at a Valencia school for a toxic mold was installed over a playground drain that clogged last year and might have contributed to conditions for growing mold, experts said.

When the drain backed up about nine months ago, stagnant water sat for weeks under Room 30, according to interviews and a report by Machado Environmental Corp., hired by the Saugus Union School District to test the bungalow at Helmers Elementary School for possible toxins.

``That wasn't too smart, was it?'' said Saugus school board member Gary Murr. ``It looks like it was negligent on our part.''

Murr said the school board is working with district officials in addressing where portables should be located and how to check for molds and other problems.

``We have established a policy, but it's an ongoing document we are trying to refine. We are addressing those issues,'' Murr said.

So far tests have shown no signs of toxins in Room 30, but soil samples from

underneath the portable were gathered Tuesday and investigators will attempt to grow cultures to see whether dangerous molds exist, said Mark Fulmer, the district's assistant superintendent of business services. That process will take about a week.

Glendale-based Machado was hired after the classroom teacher notified the school that health tests showed she had been exposed to the highly toxic stachybotrys mold, Fulmer said.

In an advisory issued by the California Interagency Working Group on Indoor Air Quality, researchers made a number of recommendations on the installation and maintenance of portable buildings at schools to ensure good air quality. The group includes representatives from the state Department of Health Services and the Environmental Protection Agency.

``Site classrooms away from locations where . . . water accumulates after rains . . .,'' the advisory says. Under maintenance, the advisory calls for regular inspections of roofs, ceilings, walls, floors and carpeting for evidence of water leakage or infiltration, and for mold and mildew growth or odor. ``Replace water-damaged materials.''

The issue of a drain, however, is two-sided, said Jed Waldman, a researcher with the state Department of Health Services Indoor Air Quality Section.

``If the drain is working correctly, then there shouldn't be water accumulation,'' Waldman said. ``But when the system fails, you have a problem of standing water and a problem of moisture. You'll have dry rot, mold, any number of things.''

Stagnant water itself does not cause stachybotrys, said Sandy McNeel, another health department researcher. The water would have had to soak the walls, carpeting or another part of the classroom. The spores, she added, are sticky when the mold is growing and typically would become airborne only as the mold dried.

In examining Room 30, investigators found a moderate amount of dust in a vent system, but no visible mold in the vents and the walls, according to Machado's preliminary report. There was some bacterial growth on coils in the air-conditioning system, which, according to the Machado report, was not unusual. One woman whose daughter was in Room 30 and has suffered chronic sinus trouble and other health problems said she took pictures and video of a black mold found under the carpeting in the bungalow.

The Machado report indicated that low levels of two types of common mold spores were found under the portable.