Mold removal to cost over $1 million

Ridding the Governor’s Mansion and two other buildings of mold will cost $1.05 million, State Budget and Control Board members were told Tuesday.

In response, the board members hired attorneys to try to get some of that money back.

Cleaning the mansion itself will cost $550,000, estimates Risk Tech, the Charleston company the state hired to fix the problem. Repairs to two other buildings in the mansion complex, the Lace and Caldwell-Boylston houses, will cost a combined $491,000.

The state’s top financial officers agreed to hire the law firm of Young Clement Rivers to investigate whether the state can recoup any costs. The Columbia firm will try to determine if a specific individual or company is responsible for the problem.

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, who sits on the Budget and Control Board, said the maximum the state could hope to get back is the $550,000 in mansion costs.

Toxic mold has forced the first family to flee the mansion. Gov. Mark Sanford has moved into the nearby pool house, while his wife and four sons have returned to the family home on Sullivan’s Island.

The Sanfords moved out June 21 after three kinds of mold were found in the mansion’s air and air-conditioning system. Risk Tech owner Richard Bennett said the family should be back in the mansion Sept. 1.

The state will pay for the work with money from several sources. A $131,000 grant and $500,000 in energy loans are available from the S.C. Energy Office for the work, Budget and Control Board director Frank Fusco said.

The rest of the money either will be come from legal action or the state’s depreciation reserve fund, which is used for major renovations of state property.

The mansion underwent a $5.6 million, taxpayer-financed renovation in 2000-01. The Lace House had $195,000 in privately funded improvements this year.

Initial reports said stachybotrys, a toxic mold that can cause serious allergic reactions and other health problems, permeated the mansion. A more in-depth study found small amounts of stachybotrys but also found three other molds.

Some people who are allergic to certain molds typically experience symptoms similar to colds or sinus infections.

Bennett has said the mold was caused by a problem with the air-conditioning system and the renovation work.

Hiring an attorney to protect the state “was an important thing to do,” Harrell said. “We had to find out if anyone is responsible.”

Senate Finance Committee chairman Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, questioned the need for an outside lawyer.

“The governor has attorneys, the Budget and Control Board has attorneys, the attorney general has attorneys,” said Leatherman, also a Budget and Control Board member.

Leatherman said he did not know how much the private attorneys would cost.

Board spokesman Michael Sponhour said the state’s own attorneys recommended hiring outside counsel with specific expertise in the area.

Reach Gould Sheinin at (803) 771-8658 or asheinin@thestate.com.