ERP - Environmental Risk Professionals

Moisture Intrusion and Mold Growth

Mold growth can result from water and wastewater releases into building materials and the subsurface due to leaks, overflows, poorly installed building materials, and blocked drains or pipes. Mold may also develop in water systems, such as refrigeration or HVAC, and indoor pools, showers, and water features due to improper maintenance, dehumidification, or ventilation. Mold growth can result in cleanup liability and pose health hazards to third parties.

Legionella

Legionella is a bacterium that causes a form of potentially fatal pneumonia. Legionella can thrive in water-containing systems like air conditioning, heating and cooling, plumbing, and water features. It can accumulate in warm, stagnant, pooled, or infrequently drained water. Poorly maintained systems and inadequate corrosion control or sanitization can result in Legionella growth and dispersal through the mist and airborne droplets and cause diseases such as Legionnaires’ and Pontiac Fever.

Refrigeration Leaks and Hazardous Materials

Food services may have refrigeration systems that use chemicals such as ammonia, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), or chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Leaks or releasing these chemicals can cause serious health hazards to third parties, including respiratory illness and even death. Food preparation and storage areas can also involve using, storing, and disposing of hazardous materials, including bleach, disinfectants, grease waste, and pesticides/rodenticides.

Landscaping Chemical Management and Run-off Hazards

Pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers can be used, stored, and disposed of for grounds maintenance, landscaping activities, and athletic fields. Overuse, misapplication, overspray, spills, or containment leaks can contaminate soil, surface, or groundwater and collect in stormwater run-off.

Asbestos

Older buildings may contain asbestos, lead, and PCBs. Asbestos-containing material (ACM) can be found in ceiling and floor tiles, insulation, around wiring, and fireproofing on structural steel. PCBs can be found in areas such as window caulk and light ballasts, and lead could be present in paint or pipes. Claims may result from accidental disturbance or alleged exposure during renovation, construction, or interior remodeling.

Chemical Management

Hazardous chemicals may be used, stored, and disposed of for building maintenance, including paints, stains, solvents, degreasers, lubricants, adhesives, and corrosives, and in educational and classroom settings, including arts and crafts rooms for painting, ceramics, jewelry making, and photography; industrial arts facilities for wood, metal, automotive and electronic shops; science labs for chemistry, biology, and life sciences; and agriculture facilities. Spills, leaks, or improper mixing of incompatible materials can result in environmental cleanup and third-party liability.

"Sick Building Syndrome"

“Sick Building Syndrome” can occur when occupants suffer health problems while in a building. Exposures can include lead, mold, and bacteria; chemicals stored on-site or found in building materials; combustion products such as carbon monoxide; or volatile organic compounds, which can be emitted from various sources, including routine cleaning, equipment operation, and building maintenance.

Fleet Maintenance and Fuel Storage

Vehicles used to transport students and faculty or for landscape maintenance may require the storage, use, and disposal of oil, antifreeze, solvents, degreasers, and lead-acid batteries. Facilities may also have underground or aboveground storage tanks for fuel. Cleanup and tort liability can result from containment breaches, spills, or contaminated stormwater run-off from parking and vehicle storage, fueling areas, or maintenance areas.

Recreation Facility Chemical and Fuel Risks

Sport and recreation facilities, including swimming pools, locker rooms, and stadiums, can store and use hazardous chemicals, including chlorine (liquid and gas form), muriatic acid, and water treatment chemicals. Boilers used to heat water may also require storage tanks for fuel.

Waste Management and Disposal

Collected wastes, including fluorescent light fixture ballasts, fluorescent light tubes and bulbs, paints, chemicals, laboratory waste, used oil and antifreeze, pesticides, grease waste, and construction debris containing asbestos, lead, or PCBs, may be hazardous or require special disposal procedures. Improperly segregated and dis- posed of wastes can result in regulatory fines and lead to clean-up and environmental tort liability.

Mercury Hazards in Rubberized Flooring

From the 1960s through the early 2000s, mercury in the form of phenyl mercuric acetate was used as a catalyst in rubberized polyurethane flooring applications, including school gyms, athletic facilities, running tracks, etc. Polyurethane floors are rubber-like and water-resistant. It has been found that flooring containing more than 1,000 parts per million of phenyl mercuric acetate has the most likely risk of releasing mercury vapors at levels of concern to people. The concentrations of vapors released increase with temperature, lack of ventilation, or damage or deterioration of the flooring. Items in contact with the floor, the ventilation system, and other items in a room with mercury-containing flooring may also become contaminated with mercury vapors and dust.

On-site cleanup of new and pre-existing pollution conditions

Off-site cleanup of new and pre-existing pollution conditions

Third-party claims for bodily injury and property damage

Third-party claims for cleanup

Both sudden and gradual pollution conditions

Aboveground and underground storage tanks

Non-owned disposal sites

Natural resource damage

Mold, bacteria, viruses, legionella, and more

Emergency response costs

First and third-party transportation pollution liability

Loading and unloading

Defense of third-party claims

Illicit abandonment

Crisis management

Civil fines and penalties, where allowed by state law

Claims Scenarios & Examples

Campus employees discovered lead dust at a university while doing tests in preparation for renovating the nearly 60-year-old building. The high levels of lead were initially found on the floor of a machine shop used by employees in the building that held engineering and computer, science classes. More tests found elevated levels of lead in five lab classrooms. The high lead levels likely resulted from soldering and welding using lead and casting lead hammers in the workshops. The university estimated $350,000 on the cleanup.

Hundreds of students were evacuated from a private school after chemicals were incorrectly mixed during swimming pool maintenance. The fumes caused 50 adults and children to suffer from sore throats and headaches, and three adults and four children were sent to the hospital due to respiratory distress.

A university pre-treated their liquid lab waste before discharge to the local publicly owned treatment works (POTW). The pre-treatment process failed, releasing toxic liquids into the POTW, which forced it to close temporarily. The university faced $650,000 in environmental cleanup and contingent business loss from the contamination of the POTW.

A school pool experienced a chlorine gas leak, causing 11 water polo athletes to be taken to the emergency room. The students could barely breathe or walk after exposure to the gas, with one being told his lung capacity was greatly diminished and might not return to full function. The student and his family sued the school for future expenses due to long-term damage.

Experiments were conducted in a high school chemistry lab. The experiments were done under an old hood, and the filters failed and released toxic fumes into the environment. Several nearby businesses had to be evacuated, and some people were transported to the hospital. The school faced several third-party claims and $215,000 in property damage for contingent business loss.

A university was constructing a new sports stadium. During construction, the contractor ruptured two abandoned 10,000-gallon underground storage tanks full of gasoline and diesel. Because the contractor did not have pollution insurance and a private company had donated the land to the university, the university faced $200,000 in environmental cleanup costs.

The caulking in a school’s windows was found to have PCBs, which contaminated the soil next to the building. Costs to clean up the soil totaled $100,000.

A school district tested the air quality and found higher than normal bacteria levels that cause Legionnaires’ disease. As a result, a high school, a middle school, and a district administration building were closed down. The district cleaned all 19 of its water towers to ensure no traces of bacteria were left. After several students complained of respiratory illnesses, a university performed testing and found mold at the residential hall where these students lived. Remediation costs were $150,000, and legal costs related to defense and claim settlement cost $250,000. A teacher took her students to a cherry tree grove on the school property for a lesson on the trees. The students were seated on the ground there, and after clearing some weeds, the teacher noticed she was covered in a bluish substance. She rushed the kids back to the classroom. Later that day, she learned that the tree grove had been recently sprayed with pesticides. The next day, one of the students was so sick from exposure to pesticides she had to be taken to the emergency room. The school faced lawsuits from parents for bodily injury.

After heavy rainfall followed by high temperatures and humidity, an elementary school discovered mold in various building areas. The school had to be closed for two months to clean out the toxic mold; remediation costs were about $700,000.

An oil pipe burst in a school’s boiler room, releasing 1,800 gallons of heating oil. The oil migrated into a floor drain and an outside storm basin. Heavy rainfall spread the oil downhill to a hospital parking lot and playground. Cleanup costs were more than $1 million.

A school was completing a routine check of its plumbing system when small amounts of legionella bacteria were found in the building and the sports facility next door. The water systems were treated, and a new cold water storage tank was put in temporarily. Total costs were $45,000.

A high school began constructing a new building on an old parking lot site. During excavation, petroleum hydrocarbon contamination was discovered, which required $300,000 to clean up the area.

Property Types

Educational Facilities

Environmental Exposures May Include: