THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 8, 1994 TAG: 9410080306
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Virginia News
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
More complaints about dizziness and headaches at the city Circuit Courthouse have postponed the reopening of the building again.
The building had been scheduled to open next week, but employees have continued to report sickness after visiting the building for short periods, city Budget Director Linda Peacock said Thursday.
``We're closing it indefinitely,'' she said. ``Possibly for 60 days, we don't know.''
The courthouse was closed in late July after employees' complaints of sickness were attributed to contaminated air. Since then, its reopening has been postponed at least five times.
The building's ventilation system has been cleaned and the walls have been scrubbed. Tests for fungi and many other materials have proved negative, and officials are stymied by the problem.
Last weekend, authorities ``baked'' the building by increasing the temperature inside to about 90 degrees in the hopes that - if the problem is some sort of chemical compound - it could be burned off, said David Easton, an industrial hygienist at the University of Virginia.
Next, authorities will try to send smoke through nearby sewer pipes to see if any smoke leaks into the courthouse, Easton said. That would indicate that sewer gases are getting into the building.
Courthouse employees have been working at the former county garage.
Court is being held at the Albemarle County Courthouse.
KEYWORDS: SICK BUILDINGS by CNB