POrtsmouth, VA – Calling the recent carbon monoxide-related deaths of a couple a tragic accident, the head of the housing authority apologized Thursday for failing to communicate with Swanson Homes residents the agency’s plans for addressing the poisonous gas that many who live there say they still fear.
“We certainly hear what you’re saying,” Executive Director Harry L. Short said. “We apologize for not communicating in the manner that we should have, but we’ve learned from this.”
Short shared his sentiments after a Swanson Homes resident outlined concerns about the complex at -Thursday’s meeting of the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. Dorita Epps, who told the board that she was speaking for many of the community’s tenants, said problems persist:
– A man’s detector sounded at 10:30 p.m. on a Friday, but when he called maintenance, he was told they would not respond until Monday, Epps said. Residents also want inspections of backup batteries conducted every three months, she said.
– Sometimes detectors seem to beep nonstop, and it’s unclear why, she said. One woman’s detector about a week ago beeped for several days even after it was replaced. Epps said she flagged a maintenance man to check it again.
– Meetings between tenants and housing authority staff at the Swanson Homes community center were abruptly stopped after the June deaths, she said.
Some residents also believe that they could be evicted for speaking publicly about their carbon monoxide concerns, but she has tried to correct them.
“I told residents we’ve got to stop being afraid because we haven’t done anything,” said Epps, who has lived at Swanson Homes for 22 years.
Short responded that housing authority officials and firefighters plan to meet with every Swanson Homes resident to answer their questions.
“Ms. Epps made some very valuable points,” said Pamela Kloeppel, who chairs the Board of Commissioners. She later said she thought PRHA staff had done good work; the only problem, she said, was in communication.
Leroy and Inez Stith, both 65, were found dead June 21 in their Swanson Homes apartment from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. The housing agency manages the public housing complex.
Each of the 210 units is equipped with smoke- and carbon-monoxide detectors, but the detectors in the Stiths’ unit had been disabled, according to a fire department investigation.
An investigation by an environmental consultant for the housing authority found malfunctioning water heaters. About 130 of the older heaters, manufactured by a company called Polaris, are being replaced at a cost of about $1 million, which includes piping and installation.
The June incident was not the first carbon monoxide scare in Swanson Homes. Ten days before the couple died, a potentially fatal level of carbon monoxide was found in the water heater closet of an apartment. The water heater was replaced. Firefighters had also found high levels in apartments in 2009 after a contractor made mistakes doing roof repairs.
The gas-powered ovens and water heaters create carbon monoxide. Some amount of it is normal, but if levels get too high, they can cause sickness and death.
Short and Deputy Executive Director Kathy Warren declined to answer whether they have identified anything that the agency could have done to prevent the deaths, citing the potential for a lawsuit. A lawyer for the Stiths’ estate has been talking to the agency’s lawyers.
Councilman Steve Heretick, Vice Mayor Charles B. Whitehurst and Mayor Kenny Wright attended the meeting and said they, too, are concerned about the residents.
Wright, who had not publicly addressed the incident until this week, said he was “disturbed” about residents’ latest statements. Several Swanson Homes tenants also spoke to the City Council this week.
City Council members appoint the agency’s commissioners but do not oversee them. Most of the authority’s funding comes from the federal government.