Is there something in Palisades Park borough hall making employees sick?

PALISADES PARK — Is something in the municipal building making employees sick?

More than 50 claims of injury have been filed to the insurance group about illness caused by the building conditions and mold in Borough Hall, police headquarters and attached buildings, according to officials and documents received through the Open Public Records Act.

Over 400 pages of emails and documents obtained by The Record and NorthJersey.com, mostly through OPRA requests, show lingering health concerns among employees attributed to mold contamination and air quality in the buildings — conditions that have mostly been unaddressed.

Who is responsible for Borough Hall fixes?

While borough employees and the members of the Borough Council have been aware of the issues, emails and interviews show that the lack of action is attributed to the fact that those involved don't know who is responsible for fixing the problem.

The emails, though heavily redacted, show the borough administrator asking on numerous occasions for the mayor and council to take action, while Mayor Chong "Paul" Kim has said the paid employees are the ones who neglected their job duties.

Emails dating to June 2022 state that mold was present in several areas of Borough Hall and throughout the Police Department.

What has been done to fix Borough Hall?

Borough Administrator Dave Lorenzo sent several emails to the mayor and council asking them to hold special meetings and to take action. In one email sent in September 2022, Lorenzo wrote to a New Jersey Department of Health employee with the subject line "resos for leases and trailers."

"I am patiently awaiting a response and action by the governing body. I have requested such and asked for a special meeting to move this matter and have stressed the urgency of the situation, but to date, no action by the governing body has been taken nor has anyone else been authorized to execute the agreements and decisions that would be needed," Lorenzo's email reads.

Lame-duck mayor and internal fights

While the mold emails went back and forth with no action taken, the borough's government was in an upheaval and came to a standstill as council meetings were canceled, and actions by a lame-duck mayor and internal fighting spilled over well into the new year and were not resolved until the borough had a new full council after lawsuits that were not settled until March.

More than just mold at Borough Hall

In September 2022, the borough's fire official found 46 fire violations at the Borough Hall and the Police Department building. Those problems have also gone largely unaddressed.

The fire violations due to building conditions were reported long before the mold. A Department of Public Works report to the mayor and council in May 2020 listed the deteriorating conditions and building needs. The report stated that while the mayor and council have delayed replacing the roof because of debates about renovations or relocation, it is becoming harder to maintain.

"However, as hard as buildings and grounds have tried to maintain and make do with the existing roofing system, it is unfortunately no longer possible to Band-Aid this problem," the report stated. "The Council needs to make a choice to either move ahead with the replacement of the borough hall roofing system or find new office space ASAP."

The report also mentioned that water that was leaking from the roof was causing mold to grow on the carpet and the building, which also was not ADA-compliant.

The state visits Borough Hall

Last month, at the borough's request, a representative of the state Division of Fire Safety’s Local Assistance Unit visited the buildings to review the outstanding fire code violations.

The Local Assistance Unit was on site to review the cited fire code violations and provide technical assistance on how to address the violations, since they had not yet been abated, said Lisa Ryan, a spokesperson from the state Department of Community Affairs Office of Communications.

Kim again blamed employees, saying that at least half the violations should have been addressed immediately by staff and were not. Two violations were issued because the building does not have proper egresses. It has only one exit for the second floor and for the basement.

Although Kim became mayor this year, he previously was a councilman and was copied and emailed directly regarding the mold.

"This has been an ongoing issue for close to two years," Lorenzo said. "My office has provided the governing body with any and all requests in terms of remediation, current and future needs of the building including mold and asbestos. The building has needed upgrades for a long time to meet code and fire safety standards. Unfortunately, the mayor and certain members of the governing body have not authorized any actions up until this point."

Kim, however, said Lorenzo was the one who neglected his job responsibilities and acknowledged that nothing was done to remedy the mold in the last year.

"The people responsible didn't perform maintenance for fire safety and mold to upkeep the state and health laws," Kim said. "The borough administrator is the main building guy; he should have followed the law. He's saying the mayor and council didn't decide, but he should have just done it. Instead, he's saying it was the governing body that didn't decide."

Kim said that while he was a councilman a new roof was discussed, but no one committed to replacing it. "I have no idea why it stopped and why it never was fixed. That's the core reason for the mold," he said.

Is mold making borough employees sick?

In February, attorney Andrew R. Bronsnick from Mandelbaum Barrett emailed Kim to notify him that borough employees were in the process of filing individual claim petitions in Workers' Compensation Court.

Bronsnick said he represents 16 employees who suffer from varying degrees of symptoms associated with mold exposure. He said the borough has only responded in court documents and has not done anything to improve working conditions.

"Until they call in proper remediation companies, this will not go away," Bronsnick said. "They don't seem at all interested in ensuring a remedy and safe place to work for all these employees."

Bronsnick said symptoms vary per person but include nasal congestion, itchy eyes and nose, itchy throat, headaches, fatigue, joint stiffness and coughing. The first claim was officially filed in May, and one employee has not returned to work due to extreme sensitivity to the mold.

There are also 25 police officers who have reported that they sought medical attention related to mold.

Kim questioned the influx of reports of sickness in the span of a couple of months. "If someone feels sick and sees mold on the wall or a ceiling leaking, they should follow procedure and tell the facility manager or the borough administrator," Kim said. "They have to make a report. All of them decided to opt for workers' compensation, which isn't the only solution."

Why so many health complaints now?

Kim said the mold has existed for a long time, and based on a recent report conducted last month and distributed to officials for review last week, it hasn't gotten worse.

"The mold has existed for a long time, and the amount is the same. It was never rectified," Kim said. "How could there be this much more complaints? My number one concern is health, but I have to question why all of a sudden the enormous amount of complaints and why it was never reported to management."

The police chief sent another email this month to the mayor, the council and borough employees about the mold and why no action has been taken.

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In his email on Sept. 14, Police Chief Anthony Espino said 25 police officers have received medical attention for complaints of not feeling well "due to their exposure to mold."

"We are working in an environment that has been deemed unsafe, and I can’t seem to understand why we have not been removed due to the dangerous amount of mold that has been detected in this department," Espino said.

Four days later, the mayor added a resolution to the Sept. 18 work session agenda to approve the Police Department's remote office trailer.

An email sent from Espino in August 2022 informed the borough administrator that "mold-infested ceiling tiles" had fallen from the men's locker room and asked how to remove them due to their contamination.

Kim said in an interview this week that the borough is still trying to determine what kind of trailer is acceptable, and the mayor and council have not officially entered into a rental agreement yet.

Requests for quotes and proposals for the removal of the old roof and installation of a new roof for Borough Hall and for certified mold remediation specialists to remove the mold, including at the attached Police Department and fire station, were also added to the work session agenda.

The requests are expected to be approved at next week's regular council meeting.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Palisades Park employees say mold in Borough Hall made them sick