Mold and fungus tests show Columbus courtrooms are safe following pipe leak
Air samples and swabbed pipe debris from the Columbus Consolidated Government Center tested negative for mold and potentially harmful fungi after animal feces and other organic debris leaked into Superior Court Judge Gil McBride’s office area last month, according to documents acquired by the Ledger-Enquirer.
Balco, LLC, a Fortson-based company, retrieved samples from inside two removed roof drain pipes and took air samples from various locations on the 11th floor in late June, shipping them to labs in Virginia and New Jersey for testing.
Courtrooms on the 11th floor will again be used for in-person proceedings. They were closed pending the test results, McBride told the Ledger-Enquirer.
“The courts have been assured by the city that the courtrooms are safe for public use,” he wrote in a text message. “This is good news, especially for judges who were without courtrooms for next week.”
The test results
According to documents provided to the L-E by the city, BALCO tested the air samples and pipe debris for “bird fecal, bat fecal, and/or other rodent fecal” after debris accumulated inside two roof drain pipes that were on 13th floor and leaked into McBride’s 11th floor space.
Two swabs with materials found inside the storm pipes were to the EMSL Analytical, Inc. Laboratory in Cinnaminson, New Jersey. Six air samples were also sent to the same lab.
A majority of the samples came from McBride’s area. Two samples were taken from McBride’s office area, another was taken from his conference room and one was take from the office of McBride’s secretary. The other two samples were taken from space belonging to State Court judge Andy Prather.
Pipe and air tests were “absent” for histoplasma capsulatum and cryptococcus neoformans, both fungi associated with bird and bat droppings.
Most people who breathe in spores from either fungus usually don’t get sick, but those with weakened immune systems can suffer severe infections that target the lungs and central nervous system, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Air inside McBride’s office was also tested for mold. BALCO collected a sample from the office and a comparison sample in the drive-through area on the southside of the government center before shipping them to Virginia-based firm SanAir Technologies Laboratory.
The test showed McBride’s office air was “well below the permissible emissions level, indicating the air is acceptable and user friendly for occupants,” BALCO wrote in its report. The outdoor air showed “a significant high level of Fungal Identification,” suggesting the air filter system in the Government Center is working properly.”
What’s next?
The pipe leak was one of a few recent safety concerns at the Government Center. A nearly 80-pound panel fell from a seventh-floor courtroom and hit a court official a few weeks ago, prompting safety inspections of all courtrooms.
Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson could not be reached Friday to give an update on the status of those inspections.
McBride told the Ledger-Enquirer Friday that Muscogee County jury selection will continue at the ice rink next to the Columbus Civic Center for the time being. Once jurors are selected, trials will move to the Government Center.
A new judicial center and government buildings could be constructed if voters approve the special purpose local option sales tax, or SPLOST, measure in November.
“We look forward to being able to use all of the courtrooms,” McBride said.
This story was originally published July 9, 2021 at 4:46 PM.