The Wacky World of IAQ: TRAVIS INVESTIGATES A DRUG-FILLED WAREHOUSE

I’ve seen a lot of crazy things over my decades in the indoor air quality (IAQ) business. I’ve crossed rickety bridges, braved drug-filled warehouses, and hobnobbed with nuns. After years of getting asked the question, “Travis, what is the craziest thing you’ve ever seen on the job?” I finally decided to share my wildest experiences in this newsletter!

To kick things off, I want to tell you about my trip to a drug holding facility in on the Texas Border, where I discovered both a serious mold problem and what the federal government really does with confiscated marijuana.

The facility was on the U.S.-Mexico border, positioned near a major conduit for smuggling marijuana. Thousands of pounds of confiscated pot — seized in pallets, bricks, or simply backpacks — was stored there. And apparently, they had an air conditioner problem.

The giant, pot-filled warehouse should have been at 75 degrees F and 55% (or less) relative humidity. But when I arrived, the air conditioning was malfunctioning. Instead of continually blowing dry air in and exhausting it out, it was only bringing in lots of damp outdoor air. Moisture had built to nearly 70% humidity … the perfect environment for mold.

Imagine my face when I realized I was surrounded by thousands of pounds of moldy marijuana!

It took me two days to identify the source of the problem and survey the damage. My biggest concern was the mold, but this wasn’t an ordinary investigation. I didn’t need to recommend a pathway for remediating the marijuana. Instead, the facility managers did what they would have done anyway: Loaded it onto a truck, took it to an incineration plant, and burned it! Ultimately, my recommendation was simply to empty and clean the warehouse, and repair the air conditioner.

The whole thing was quite the adventure, not least because I went home smelling strongly of marijuana! I passed every checkpoint with my point of contact’s business card in my hand, ready to explain why the drug-sniffing dogs found my truck so interesting. Fortunately, I never had to use it!

Look forward to more “IAQ in the Strangest Places” stories in future newsletters.