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WILKES-BARRE — A consultant removed 1,701 water-damaged boxes of records and thick docket books from Luzerne County’s leased record storage building following an Aug. 24 leak, county Administrative Services Division Head David Parsnik said Thursday.

Water had rained onto records kept on three floors of the Thomas C. Thomas warehouse on Union Street in Wilkes-Barre for an unknown length of time until county District Attorney’s Office workers discovered the problem. Building owner Thomas C. Thomas identified a faulty sprinkler head as the cause of the leak and said the sprinkler system was properly inspected and maintained.

Michigan-based DFD Document Restoration Services, which was retained by the county to salvage impacted records, provided a department count of the records it has removed, according to Parsnik:

• District Attorney: 913

• Prothonotary/wills: 423

• Probation: 265

The consultant said it will take 10 to 12 weeks to identify records that can’t be saved or reproduced.

District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis stressed the boxes from her office contained paper case files — not crime scene objects and evidence that are retained by police agencies.

While Salavantis couldn’t rule out the possibility, an initial review concluded few, if any, documents were damaged to the degree that they are unreadable, she said.

The boxes were sturdy and absorbed much of the water, and tarps placed over boxes after the leak was discovered prevented further damage, she said.

Salavantis said she has a direct contact at DFD to obtain scanned copies of any documents her office needs through email or overnight delivery.

Her office must keep most files permanently. Salavantis is exploring the cost of scanning all documents to eliminate the need for building storage.

“It will depend on the cost,” she said Thursday.

DFD uses vacuum freeze-drying and other techniques to prevent the growth of mold, mildew and microbial elements that can make the damaged documents a health hazard, its site says.

Parsnik expects the matter to end up in a legal challenge.

The building owner’s insurance covers damage to the structure but not the contents of those leasing space, he said. The county has insurance for the contents with a $10,000 county deductible.

Both the county and its insurance carrier will want to recoup the deductible and cost of restoring damaged documents, he said.

The county has been in the process of moving records out of the leased property into a new county-owned storage facility in Hanover Township. That move, which began in July, stemmed from a state archive expert’s warnings years ago that the Thomas facility was insufficient for record storage due to temperature extremes, lack of security, leaks and fire hazards.

In light of the leaks, the removal of remaining county records in the leased Wilkes-Barre property is set to occur sooner and will begin Sept. 5, Parsnik said.

Salavantis
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_stefanie1.jpg.optimal.jpgSalavantis

By Jennifer Learn-Andes

[email protected]

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.