Coroners refrigeration units shut off during mold remediation

GENEVA An unmarked light switch in the Kane County morgue has caused yet another problem for the coroners office.

Crews conducting mold remediation in the Geneva facility last month turned the switch off in the course of their work, Coroner Rob Russell said.

But instead of turning off lights, he said, the flipped switch turned off refrigeration units containing thousands of samples of blood and body tissue materials that could be tied to criminal and civil litigation.

On Monday, Russell briefly turned the switch off to demonstrate his bewilderment that the crews didnt notice the noisy refrigeration units were silenced with the switch.

Gee, it really got quiet here, Russell said.

Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen said the coroner could have taken such precautions as labeling or covering the switch to prevent the situation from happening. He noted people are trained to turn off lights.

If the lights are on and youre going to leave the room, what do you do? Lauzen said.

Russell doesnt know how long the refrigeration units were off, as he and his staff werent in the building at the time of remediation, he said.

The remediation was done by a company hired by the county, Lauzen said. He did not have the cost of information readily available Monday but described it as expensive.

Since finding the refrigeration units turned off, Russells staff has been working to catalog the contents a time-consuming task because of the offices antiquated filing system, he said.

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Coroners refrigeration units shut off during mold remediation