Co-op has 'shut down' pleas to remove black mould from his Mississauga home, father of 4 says
CBC
A Mississauga man says he worried his family is getting sick because of black mould growing in their co-operative townhouse — and he says the co-op board isn't moving fast enough to remove it.
Steven Tomat, his wife Maria Valeria Hernandez and their four children live in a co-op managed by Springfield Co-operative Homes, located on Bridlewood Court near Dundas Street West and Erindale Park. He says he discovered the black mould three weeks ago after his third-floor toilet flooded for the third time in the last eight months.
Tomat says he suspects the mould is affecting the health of his two young sons. One is on a puffer for a chronic cough, while the other is on antibiotics for repeated pink-eye infections. He's worried that more family members may fall ill.
"This escalated because our little guy was sick," Tomat said.
"We're not getting any help. When I try to go for help I get shut down and ignored."
Tomat says he and the co-op board have been corresponding via email but to no avail. He says after he discovered the black mould while cleaning the flooded carpet, the board sent him a toxicity report it had initiated, but only after it had the results for a week.
That report by Barker Environmental Consulting Inc. confirmed there is black mould in the residence. Tomat says he's pleading with the co-op to proceed urgently to solve the problem.
"I care about these little guys," he said of his sons.
"This is why parents do what we do, we protect our little guys and they don't care."
CBC Toronto reached out to Springfield Co-operative Homes for comment on Thursday, via both email and voicemail, but has not yet received a reply.
Tomat says the most recent flooding began on July 26 when he woke up "to an inch of water in my house." By this time, the water had reached his garage, he says.
"There was a smell like an outhouse," he said. "It lingered there. Ever since then, it's been a battle."
In the meantime, he's moved his and his family's beds to avoid the areas of the house with mould.
Springfield Co-op has offered to repair the damage if his family can live on the lower floor, Tomat says, but with a wife, four kids and two dogs, he says he doesn't see that as a plausible solution.
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