TAMPA, Fla. — The men and women stationed at MacDill Air Force Base help keep our nation safe. But a Tampa Bay 28 I-Team investigation reveals why many of them fear for the safety of their own families.
Service members invited I-Team Reporter Kylie McGivern on base to see the conditions inside military housing. She shares her visits to their homes and their stories, families on the inside who said they had no choice but to get out.
WATCH: Families living on MacDill Air Force Base come forward with concerns about mold
Entering the gates of a military base, the community at MacDill seems well-protected.
The I-Team met with service members from three different branches who had the same concerns.
"You think coming onto a military base, they're going to take care of you," Coast Guard Lt. Erick Proveaux told the I-Team. "While we're out doing the job, right. Your family is safe. Your kids are safe."
"You get provided security from, you know, outside, and then you also entrust the people inside to give you the same level of security," Air Force Tech. Sgt. Juan Torres said.
“They've got difficult jobs that they're doing. Everybody on this base," Army Maj. John Jensen said.
Families living on base told the I-Team they've been fighting a battle against a hidden enemy.
"We couldn't figure out what's going on," Jensen said. “My daughter coughed consistently for the last two, three years."
Jensen uncovered a problem right under his feet.
"We were doing the second mold inspection. The boards were already starting to buckle. One board had kind of come up and popped and we kind of looked under it and it was in this area that we found some of the mold and I was thinking like... well how far does it go?" Jensen said. "And then it just help going."
Jensen invited the I-Team in after getting his family out.
“We got out of here in five days," he said.
Jensen said his family took what they could and left the rest at the curb, with a warning: "Caution: Mold Exposure."
“We didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe it," Jensen said.
He didn't want to believe that there was mold in Harbor Bay, privatized family housing on base.
Families first began contacting the I-Team in March, months before a letter came to light, addressed to the Secretary of Defense and signed by 14 bipartisan members of Congress, "to express urgent concern".
The letter says their offices have met with families stationed at several bases, including MacDill, and "all detailed three common trends: exposure to toxic mold, the development of serious medical conditions, and loss of property due to contamination."
“We are supposed to protect Lily, and you know, she's suffering in this every day for four years," Jensen said of his daughter.
The I-Team obtained a copy of the work orders and found, nearly three weeks before meeting with Jensen, Harbor Bay had his home inspected after he "Pulled a picture off the wall and found water damage and mold growth".
The order notes:
- “Found dust on the wall, clean up mentioned area"
- “Found no water damages”
- “Job is complete”
Michael Rubino, an expert in indoor air quality and mold remediation, showed the I-Team some of the problems he found in Jensen's home.
"All this mold and bacteria that can fester in this area because of the condensation, then gets drawn back up into the machine and then distributed across the house," Rubino said.
Jensen pointed out that every service member spends a lot of time at work.
"They have hard, complex jobs that they're working, and then they've got to come home and then stop all of that, and deal with this," he said, pointing to his floor.
Jensen's neighbor, Proveaux, went over to Jensen's home when the I-Team was there to share his own struggle.
“This is the inside of my HVAC system," Proveaux said, pulling up pictures. “This is what’s being blown around my house.”
“I move in here and five months later start having the worst health problems I’ve ever had in my life," he said.
Proveaux has since moved his family from the home.
He outlined his concerns in an email to The Michaels Organization, which owns Harbor Bay, saying, “The amount of mold in this unit was unbelievable and scary and in my opinion contributed to our consistent health problems.”
When the I-Team contacted Michaels, the organization would not agree to an interview, answer questions, or address the work done on the homes of these three now former residents. Instead, a Michaels and Harbor Bay at MacDill spokesperson emailed this statement:
“We take pride in providing our communities with well-maintained homes through rigorous processes and oversight – including Air Force required inspections – to help ensure our maintenance and repair operations are lawful, safe, and consistent with our commitment to residents. Over the last decade, we have invested more than $45 million into restoring and improving homes at Harbor Bay at MacDill, while actively engaging with local stakeholders with our residents’ best interests in mind. We are aware that some former residents are being advised by a law firm and may be engaging in legal action. While we cannot comment on the specifics of threatened litigation, we take all residents’ concerns very seriously and our priority has always been and continues to be the well-being of our Harbor Bay residents, staff, and community.”
"It’s all been sampled, it’s all been confirmed that it’s mold," Rubino told the I-Team.
Rubino was brought in to inspect homes in Harbor Bay by Just Well Law, based in Austin, Texas. The law firm has been meeting with dozens of families who are considering legal action, including Torres.
“It began in ’21, 2021," Torres said. "We noticed there was like this moldy, mildew smell and we’re like ok, can we get a work order, can we get this fixed? They came in, they did their cleaning, they cleaned the vents, they said there’s no mold, and were were like OK, well, I guess you guys fixed the problem. But no.”
Showing the I-Team through the house he called home for four years, before turning the keys back over, he said, "You come over here, they tested this wall as well, they put a camera through there, there is mold in there, there’s mold under the floors right here."
Torres said at that point, "Something just clicked. That's why we’re sick."
Torres said he has to speak up.
"You need integrity to do the right thing when nobody’s looking. You need courage to do the right thing when everybody’s looking. And that’s part of the reason I’m doing this," he said.
After that, Torres and the I-Team left the home, a chapter he is grateful to close the door on, but says the story isn't over.
The I-Team asked Torres if a representative from Harbor Bay was sitting there, what would he want to tell them?
"I would tell them, 'Would you put your family and yourself in this house? For four years? And if not, then how would you fix it to put your family in there? And that's what they have to do to get it right," Torres said.
MacDill Air Force Base Spokesperson:
"Our service members and their families are our number one priority, and we take complaints of any kind very seriously. As part of our responsibilities, installation leadership works to resolve resident/project owner disputes utilizing all command authorities necessary, to include providing legal support to military members, and elevates unresolved disputes with the Project Owner to AFCEC."
"The installation commander oversees Michael’s performance and provides a quarterly evaluation to Air Force Civil Engineer Center for Installations (AFCEC) and senior Air Force leaders to use as key process indicators in determining the effectiveness of privatized housing at the installation. Some of the criteria evaluated include quality of customer experience, resident feedback, and work order responsiveness, etc. MacDill leadership took the extra steps of requesting additional criteria in January that has been included in subsequent commander’s evaluations:
- Return all families displaced due to hurricane damage to livable homes by March 2025;
- Improve quality oversight of subcontractors on base;
- Create durable maintenance plans with quality assurance for maintenance work orders; and
- Improve communication with residents.
Installation leadership holds Michael’s, as the Project Owner, accountable to their contract through command and contractual authorities, including the withhold of incentives, in order to best care for our service members and their families."
"Installation leadership provides a quarterly evaluation that acts as a recommendation to the Air Force Civil Engineer Center for Installations (AFCEC) for actions to take, like withholding incentives. Current installation leadership has recommended and AFCEC has withheld incentives for the last two quarters in a row, with a third pending AFCEC’s validation now."
Share Your Story with Kylie
Kylie McGivern works tirelessly to get results for the people of Tampa Bay. Her reporting has exposed flaws in Florida’s corrections system and unemployment process. Reach out to Kylie and our I-Team if you need help holding state leaders accountable.
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