Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Wednesday, March 02, 2007

FORT LIARD - A Fort Liard resident is blaming the conditions of his former home for the death of his wife this past summer.

Jack Yeadon is now concerned for the health of other people living in the Kotaneelee Housing Association's rental units in Fort Liard.

Yeadon vividly remembers the conditions that he and his family lived in while staying in one of the houses from September 2002 to Dec. 19, 2003.

Yeadon said he believes the moulds in the house contributed to the death of his wife who fell ill in early 2005 and died on June 10, 2006. The causes of death included colon cancer and major damage to the liver, said Yeadon. By doing Internet research, Yeadon said he discovered some of the moulds found in the house attack tissue around the colon and cause liver damage.

"I was shocked with what I was reading," said Yeadon

Due to a lack of adequate ventilation, moisture collected in the house and mould started to grow.

"The place started smelling like a swamp," said Yeadon.

Moisture would run down the walls and windows every time anyone had a bath or boiled water on the stove, he said. Black and green mould took root in the windowsills and on some places on the walls.

In December 2003 the family, including Yeadon, his wife Barbara Bertrand, and four children were told by housing officials that they'd have to move because the building posed a health risk to Yeadon's newborn son Jackson.

The family was relocated in a unit of the Senior's Complex.Yeadon said he found the reason for the move alarming and asked the NWT Housing Corporation to do a lab test on the mould. The subsequent report by EnviroTest Laboratories, in Manitoba, listed six different types of mould colonies, which were found in low dilutions.

Dr. Andre Corriveau, the chief medical officer for the NWT refutes Yeadon's claim that moulds lead to his wife's death.

"There is no association between moulds and cancer in any literature," he said.

Mould is found everywhere and is a problem in houses in the North that retain water, normally because of poor construction, said Corriveau. People can develop allergic reactions to the mould, which causes symptoms like rashes, asthma and wheezing.

The only way to solve mould problems in homes is to renovate, he said.

Although a known cancer-causing mould, Aspergillus, was found in the rental unit, Corriveau said its ability to affect the liver isn't relevant in this context.

In poor countries where food is not stored properly that type of mould can grow on grains and creates a toxin. If people eat the mouldy grain on a regular and extended basis it can increase the chance of liver cancer.

Unless aspergillus is consumed it cannot affect the liver. In addition, aspergillus isn't associated with colon or rectal cancer, said Corriveau.

Yeadon isn't satisfied by this answer.

"The GNWT people aren't worthy of trusting," said Yeadon.

In 2004, the NWT Housing Corporation identified a common construction deficiency in all 20 units built in Fort Liard in 1991. Because the houses were constructed without adequate insulation or a vapour barrier, moisture was able to collect in the crawlspace.

The houses were built as part of an agreement between the Kotaneelee Housing Association and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. When the units fell into disrepair, the Housing Corporation became involved when the community asked for assistance, said Jeff Polakoff, president of the NWT Housing Corporation.

Help is coming for the units, he said.

When the houses were initially looked at for rehabilitation, the contractor who was awarded the contract to renovate the houses chose not to act, said Polakoff. Two houses were renovated on an emergency basis.

Over the past 18 months the Housing Corporation has reached a contribution agreement with the hamlet concerning the units. The agreement gives the hamlet resources including approximately $500,000 to upgrade eight units.

To upgrade the remaining 10 units Polakoff would like to see the Housing Corporation enter into a universal partnership agreement with the hamlet and the band. A housing board would be created to take responsibility for the management and administration of the units. Discussions for renovations would be made with that board.

"At the end of the day we want to undertake renovations for all 20 units," he said.

Although many of the units are currently occupied, recent repairs were discontinued by the hamlet until the spring because of poor weather conditions, said Polakoff.

Polakoff said he isn't familiar enough with the severity of the conditions in the houses to comment on any possible health concerns. The intent, however, is to deal with the units in the worst state first.

"Worst first means those that require the renovations the most, including mould, would have been dealt with first," he said. Yeadon said his former house is still empty.

-with files from Derek Neary