I'd first go back and look at the current contract and see if the vendor had
any liability for environmental protection of the assets they were storing
and IF THEY DO, hold them responsible for remediation of the problem... not
simply arresting it from spreading any further.

If you are relocating these into a humidity controlled environment, it will
likely keep the mold from spreading any further, but as it dries, it may be
sucked up into the ventilation system and spread to other currently
unaffected cartons.  And as the existing cartons are dislodged, the spores
will become airborne and spread.

I'd contact an Industrial Hygienist to have the cartons tested to attempt to
identify what you're dealing with before launching into any full scale
moving or jostling of these.  If there are/were rodents involved, there is
the possibility of Hanta virus being in the mix... and I wouldn't want to
expose my staff/employees to this.

I don't think there is any question that any boxes that display signs of
mold should be repacked (by someone wearing gloves and a respirator at
minimum; clean suits at a maximum) and the damaged cartons sealed in bags to
prevent further spread.  "Air washing" is only going to spread smaller bits
of the mold further and if you don't know what the mold consists of, wiping
them down without the aid of some fungicide in the water won't necessarily
help either. 

If your contract doesn't cover this, you may want to talk to a liability or
insurance person at your firm to see if there is some way to recover some of
this cost as a loss.  Arresting the problem will result in limiting further
exposure and damage, so the impact may be lessened by this.

The other consideration is if these boxes are of a short retention period
and the contents are infrequently accessed, you could leave the damaged
boxes with the storage provider until they are ready for disposition and
have them destroy them at that time rather than transfer them to your new
facility.  The cost of continued storage and destruction may be less than
the cost to re-box.  And again, if they have some contractual liability for
the damage, maybe they will have to bear the cost for all of this.

Larry
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