CDC team visits Flagler Ops Center, interviews deputies

News-Journal - 9/7/2018

Sept. 06--A team of federal inspectors from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention walked through the vacated Flagler County Sheriff's Office Operations Center in Bunnell on Thursday morning as part of an ongoing effort to uncover any health problems the building might present.

Since November, more than 40 employees once stationed at the operations center have filed workers' compensation claims that blame contaminants in the building for causing an array of health issues.

The federal inspectors, in town for a two-day visit, are part of CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, a division of the federal agency that specializes in dealing with alleged sick buildings, county officials said.

[READ: CDC team to visit vacated Flagler Ops Center]

"I think it's a great step in the right direction," Sheriff Rick Staly said. "A truly independent federal agency to come and look, and will hopefully give the county advice on what to do with this building, how to fix it and what may be triggering these illnesses with my employees."

The four doctors arrived at the Operations Center just after 6 a.m. Thursday to conduct the walk-through with plans to begin interviewing 32 affected Sheriff's Office employees in the afternoon. Staly said they inspected the roof, walked around the perimeter of the building and examined an area above ceiling tiles where pics of decaying wood were taken during renovation of the building.

Those photos have fueled ongoing speculation that rotting dry wood may be behind the fascia and Staly has asked county officials to cut out a piece of the wall to prove or disprove that theory.

"They have been very thorough," Staly said of the inspectors. "They're asking a lot of good questions, taking notes and photos. They wanted to know specifically where people were assigned that reported the illnesses and where their desks were."

Some union members accompanied the CDC specialists on their walk through, which concluded about 11 a.m. The team did not conduct any further tests on the building during the visit.

The county-owned building has been the hub of controversy since employees in November began alleging it was the culprit behind their various illnesses. County officials ordered air quality inspections in December and again in April that showed no heightened levels of toxins were present.

After workers' compensation claims ballooned in May, Staly pressured county officials to investigate further. The county responded by hiring Engineering Systems Inc., or ESi, an environmental consultant based in Fort Myers, to conduct inspections in June. That occurred the same week that employees assigned to work at the Operations Center were told to evacuate the building. It has remained essentially vacant since June 15.

[READ: Flagler sheriff lays out growing concerns over Ops Center]

ESi scientists deemed the building safe for occupancy and found no links to molds or toxins causing the workers' health issues. Then Staly hired his own consultant, Flagler Beach environmental specialist Robert Sweeney, who presented a report last month that was partially critical of ESi's evaluation.

Staly called the CDC inspectors the "experts on the issue" and said Thursday he hopes they will offer some recommendations before they leave on Friday.

There was no timetable on when CDC's final report could be expected.

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