Mold Infested ATC Facilities
Atlanta Air Route Traffic Control Center
The nation’s busiest air traffic control facility, Atlanta Air Route Traffic Control Center, is currently the site of a dangerous mold and fungus infestation that has reached crisis proportions after sickening scores of employees, adding an extraordinary amount of anxiety and stress to an already difficult work environment and has even led an outside contractor to pull its employees out of the building due to the serious health concerns.
Specifically, there is a fungus called Scopulariopsis in the control room. Spores from this fungal source are being dispersed through the air. Fungal samples were taken at the facility on Sept. 20 by Analytical Environmental. According to NATCA Atlanta Center Facility Representative Calvin Phillips, approximately half of the more than 300 controllers in the facility have suffered various degrees of health problems over a prolonged period of time.
Atlanta Center is responsible for the safe flow of air traffic in over 104,000 square miles of airspace encompassing parts of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky, including all of the aircraft landing and departing Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson and Charlotte’s Douglas International. In 2006, the facility handled over 3.125 million aircraft. The facility is divided into seven areas of specialization and operates 45 sectors.
View the Pictures
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The water in this bottle came straight out of the water fountain inside Atlanta Center.
Documentation
Letter sent to the Secretary of the Department of Transportation from members of the Georgia Congressional Delegation 
Letter from Peachtree Mechanical Inc. to the FAA
Media Coverage
NATCA Press Release, Oct. 10, 2007
Washington Post, Oct. 24, 2007
The Citizen, Oct. 17, 2007
The Hill's Congress Blog "Air Traffic Controllers Deserve More from FAA"
ABC News Investigative Reporter Brian Ross featured ZTL and the mold issue on his blog "The Blotter"
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Oct. 10, 2007
The Citizen, Oct. 10, 2007
The Citizen, Oct. 5, 2007
AVweb article
Retired Atlanta Center Air Traffic Controller blogs about the mold issue at ZTL
Detroit Metropolitan Airport ATCT
Unfortunately, Atlanta Center is not the only facility that has been infested by mold. The Detroit Metro Air Traffic Control Tower has been dealing with mold for the past three years. On September 14, 2007, the air traffic controllers filed a lawsuit in Wayne County (Mich.) Circuit Court. The suit contains allegations that contractors hired by the Federal Aviation Administration failed to properly remove mold, provide a work plan for effective removal of mold contamination, have a certified industrial hygienist present during remediation, conduct proper testing including clearance testing, and to advise the FAA of the deficiencies in their efforts to remediate the mold.
Media Coverage
NATCA Press Release, Sept. 14, 2007
Government Executive, Sept. 24, 2007
Detroit Free Press, Sept. 15, 2007
NATCA Press Release, May 18, 2006
Associated Press, January 24, 2005
Press Release from Michigan Legislators, January 18, 2005
Kansas City International Airport
Another ATC facility dealing with mold is the Kansas City International Airport (MCI). MCI has begun an extensive mold remediation along the lines of what was done at the Detroit ATCT. This is at least the second attempt at remediation; NATCA has documented information of the mold remediation done in mid to late 2004. There are several problems identifed by an industry expert NATCA contracted with to review the FAA's current remediation plan (below). NATCA's expert advised the union that there are "serious deficiencies and flawed clearance criteria" in the plan. The following is a brief summary of their findings:
1. In two rooms, building materials will be removed WITHOUT containment, negative pressure enclosure, or decontamination units (in contradiction to the industry standard of care.)
2. Visibily dusty environmental conditions will be allowed to exist inside containment areas (in contradiction to the industry standard of care.)
3. Pourous building materials are being wiped down with detergent rather than being removed (in contradiction to the industry standard of care.) In addition, the specific detergents to be used are NOT specified and are left to the choice of the contractor. Some detergents are food for mold spores.
4. An evaluation or cleaning of the ductwork has NOT been done. It is possible that remediated areas could be re-contaminated by spores dispersed through the ductwork.
5. Remediation will be done prior to correcting or fixing the sources of the moisture problems.
6. The union's representatives have not been allowed in meetings where management was discussing and developing the remediation plan.
7. Only the contractor company is required to be certified by various organizations. This does NOT require the contractor's workers to have mold remediation training/certification.
8. A decontamination chamber is NOT required, thereby substantially increasing the risk of cross contamination to occupied areas of the building.
A very important factor was discovered during a recent briefing provided to the employees. The FAA's briefer announced that the remediation plan was "budget driven." It was very clear that the remediation plan is based upon money rather than what is necessary to protect the health of the employees and the government's physical assets (facilities).
Already the remediation is going poorly. The following typifies management's approach to the mold discovery and remediation at MCI ATCT. Unannounced the FAA began remediation work in the NATCA office. Because the union had been informed that work would not be done there for weeks, no preparation was made. The Facility Representative received an email from a management official that stated,
"... the mold abatement crew was ready to start (in) the NATCA Office. I went ahead and disconnected the main computer and have secured it. They say it is a two day project, so I figured since you were out today and in the lab tomorrow, this would be a good time. Sorry about the surprise. hope this works okay for you. If not, let me know and we will work something out. Hopefully it will be no impact to you."
The desk has been turned up on its side and its contents spread chaotically throughout. There is now dust everywhere in the office which is unusable for fear of exposure. Does it contain mold? We intend to have an expert, independent analysis done before the office is used by people again.
Media Coverage
Kansas City Star, October 26, 2007
Documentation
Grand Rapids Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON)
Grand Rapids (GRR) TRACON Shut Down Due To Mold
CURRENT STATUS: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has shut down the Grand Rapids TRACON due to mold being found in the facility. The FAA currently has contractors repairing significant roof leaks and numerous other OSHA violations/corrections at the TRACON, which serves the Gerald R. Ford International Airport. The violations/corrections are from a FAA OSHA report dated August 15, 2005, in which nine items were cited and from a Federal OSHA report from May 2006, in which 13 violations were cited. The FAA manager informed NATCA that GRR TRACON was being closed, until further notice, due to mold found during the demolition process. NATCA offered to have air monitoring conducted for mold and asbestos by an environmental consultant used by the Agency (WonderMaker Environmental). The Agency manager declined NATCA’s request and refuses to allow NATCA to be part of the process to address this problem.
STATUS OF ATC OPERATIONS: As a result of the TRACON shut down, TRACON operations are being run out of tower cab. The tower has one radar scope. Two controllers are currently working the one scope to move traffic as efficiently and safely as possible. If traffic increases beyond the capacity that one scope can handle, departures will be halted and/or arrivals will be held in air. If airspace has to be transferred, it would go to Chicago Center – 300 miles away. Fortunately, the veteran controllers handling this situation have a combined 20+ years of experience.
BACKGROUND: In July 2005, NATCA asked the FAA to do a mold survey in the GRR facility. The Agency denied the request and told NATCA representatives that there was no mold in the facility. In response to the Agency’s refusal to address the mold issue, NATCA secured an expert to conduct a mold survey in the facility in October 2005. The survey came back confirming known mold on every floor of the facility. Specifically, mold was found on the walls, ceilings, carpets and HVAC system. NATCA advised the FAA of the results of the mold survey and requested immediate mold remediation. The Agency denied NATCA’s request, and instead performed moisture remediation—replacing only ceiling tiles and not dealing with the source issue.
NATCA REQUEST: The FAA must conduct air monitoring in the facility to ensure the safety and health of employees. NATCA has asked Federal OSHA officials to visit the facility and set up air monitoring in the facility, because the FAA had failed to do so. NATCA supplied OSHA with the union's testing data. NATCA was told by OSHA that the FAA contacted the OSHA representative to advise them that Federal OSHA did not have jurisdiction, claiming it was a state issue (MI-OSHA).
Media Coverage
Grand Rapids Press, Oct. 24, 2007
Aero-News Network, Oct. 24, 2007
Other Facilities Experiencing Mold Problems
The following facilities have been identified as having issues with mold. More information will be provided as it becomes available:
ACY - Atlantic City ATCT
AVP - Wilkes-Barre ATCT
DCA - Washington National ATCT
DFW - Dallas/Fort Worth ATCT
EUG - Eugene ATCT
EVV - Evansville ATCT
FSD - Sioux Falls ATCT
HEF - Manassas ATCT
HPN - Westchester County ATCT
ILM - Wilmington ATCT
ISP - Long Island MacArthur ATCT
MBS - Saginaw ATCT
MGM - Montgomery RAPCON
MMU - Morristown Municipal ATCT
MSY - New Orleans Moisant ATCT
MYR - Myrtle Beach ATCT
ORD - Chicago O'Hare Intl. ATCT
PAE - Everett ATCT
PWK - Palwaukee ATCT
SCT - Southern California TRACON
SFB - Central Florida Regional ATCT
SGF - Springfield Regional ATCT
STL - St. Louis/Lambert Intl. ATCT
TLH - Tallahassee ATCT
TUL - Tulsa Intl. ATCT
U90 - Tucson TRACON
ZID - Indianapolis ARTCC
ZJX - Jacksonville ARTCC
ZME - Memphis ARTCC
ZNY - New York ARTCC
ZOB - Cleveland ARTCC
ZSU - San Juan CERAP
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