Authorities: Carbon monoxide not responsible for infant deaths at McDougald Terrace

Carbon monoxide wasn't responsible for the recent deaths of three infants at or near the McDougald Terrace housing complex in Durham, state health officials said Thursday.

Preliminary and confirmatory testing were negative for carbon monoxide in the deaths of a 1-year-old and a 4-month-old who died in December at McDougald Terrace and a 3-month-old who died on New Year's Day and lived in a rooming house adjacent to the complex, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Even though the autopsies haven't been completed and the cause of death hasn't been determined in any of the three cases, the medical examiner's office made the unusual announcement because of the heightened concern about elevated levels of carbon monoxide at McDougald Terrace.

More than a dozen McDougald Terrace residents have been sent to area hospitals since late November with elevated levels of carbon monoxide, including two children last Thursday.

More than 250 of the 360 families who live in the public housing complex have been moved to a dozen area hotels since last Friday so work crews can perform thorough checks of the gas-powered furnaces, water heaters and ovens in the units.

"First and foremost, the deaths of those three infants is a definite tragedy," Anthony Scott, chief executive of the Durham Housing Authority, which operates McDougald Terrace, said at a Thursday news conference. "Despite the medical examiner's report, I just want ot be clear that our deepest sympathies go out to those families and that we're going to be very focused on making sure that those units are safe for everyone to go back to."

Inspections have initially focused on units where residents have decided not to evacuate, and 50 of the 140 occupied units examined Tuesday and Wednesday require the replacement of at least one gas appliance to reduce carbon monoxide levels inside, Scott said.

If problems are found in any other occupied units, he said, DHA will require the residents to leave until repairs are made. Up to this point, all evacuations have been voluntary.

"Our No. 1 priority is to make sure those units are safe before they come back," Scott said.

No timetable has been set for inspecting the evacuated apartments or for allowing residents to return, he said, noting DHA administrators are still trying to gauge the scope of the problem and what will be needed to eliminate the carbon monoxide problems.

"We're still looking at all options. Having a clear understanding of what the issues are within the properties will help determine that – if it's a fixable problem, is the funding there or is it something more dramatic," he said.

Longtime McDougald Terrace resident Laura Bettye said she's forever grateful to the DHA for putting a roof over her head and even providing college scholarships to her children. Still, she said, the carbon monoxide issues concern her.

"The infrastructure is very very old," Bettye said. "You want to take precautions, so I sleep with my windows open, and it's cold, but I have to take care of myself."

Bettye is now joining the growing number of evacuees, living in hotels until she and hundreds of others feel safe enough to return home.

"It's a concerning situation, and it has to be taken care of," she said.

McDougald Terrace has repeatedly failed federal safety inspections in recent years.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development inspects more almost 6,800 public housing complexes across the United States, checking issues ranging from tripping hazards on sidewalks to damaged doors and walls to gas and electrical problems.

McDougald Terrace barely passed its 2016 HUD inspection, but then the bottom fell out in subsequent years, with failing scores of 21, 34 and 31 in the next three years.

Seven of the 14 DHA properties scored below 60 on their most recent HUD inspections. In addition to McDougald Terrace, Hoover Road, Cornwallis Road and Oxford Manor all scored in the 30s in their last inspections.

Durham Mayor Steve Schewel continues to stand behind Scott and DHA management.

"For 40 years – longer – this community has neglected our public housing communities, even as the federal government's funding dried up. We didn't do what we needed to do over these decades to provide for those housing communities to be renovated or even maintained," Schewel said at the news conference. "It's really under Mr. Scott's leadership that we now have a plan to do this, and, with the affordable housing bond, we have a lot of money dedicated to the Durham Housing Authority to do it."

Durham voters approved an affordable housing referendum in November that will pair $95 million in bonds with $65 million in federal and local funding over five years. A large chunk of that funding will be used to redevelop and expand DHA's properties.