> The implication is that those running the operation have an old or primitive mindset or safety standards.

What? That isn't at all what it said.

> But under all the high-tech green fanfare, several construction workers, including some who wished to be anonymous, say the site has been gripped by mold and respiratory illness—medieval hazards that workers feel managers neglected in the pressure to quickly open the plant.

They were contrasting the high tech and modern nature of the plant to the medieval hazard of mold. The assertion being that mold isn't a modern day problem. Mold, insects, vermin, and disease were common everyday problems in medieval times that were overshadowed by the more pressing needs around food scarcity and clean water.

It’s a medical hazard, but the editor is as illiterate as the author.

> medical hazard

Ha, ok that seems really likely now that it has been pointed out.