High mold levels force two THs to close down

Walter Padilla News Editor

Due to high levels of mold in their living quarters, ten students had to move into temporary dormitory housing on Saturday, Oct. 16, as the Residential Life and Buildings and Grounds Offices closed down Town Houses D2 and D7 for renovations.

According to TH D7 resident Sebastian Denton ’05, test results provided to the students by Director of Environmental Health and Safety Michael Spath showed the presence of three types of mold in the TH’s basement and closet: aspergillum, penicillium and stachybotrys chartum, all toxic if present in large quantities. Denton and housemate Kirstin Bergquist ’05 stated that they received the results on Tuesday, Oct. 12, three weeks after the initial sample was taken.

During that three-week interval, TH D7 resident Lyndsey Williams ’05 and Bergquist began experiencing dizziness, fever, loss of appetite, vertigo, eye, ear, nose, and throat irritation, mucus and headaches. They also “began finding food items (such as dry, unopened boxes of pasta) covered in mold,” said Williams.

“Finally we were able to schedule a meeting with [Director of Residential Life] Faith Nichols and Michael Spath where they agreed to rip up our carpets and replace them in order to prevent mold from growing in them. This was ridiculous, considering mold was already in the house, in our clothes and food and our furniture,” added Williams. Mold samples were taken shortly thereafter.

By the morning of Oct. 12, before the results were released to the TH seniors, a student had already anonymously called the Dutchess County Department of Health, who informed the TH residents that generally “any mold was not a good living situation and depending on the results of the fungal allergen tests, could be a very serious health concern.”

“That very same day, some official looking people came to our house and condemned it, finding mold in our sinks and everywhere,” said Williams. “So far our problem seems to be on its way to getting resolved. The result is that they are going in and completely tearing down our TH and making us a new one in the next few weeks.”

“Moving out was first raised as an option early in the week before October break. As we had more meetings throughout the week, it became the only option,” said TH D7 resident Frank Sharpe ’05. “So, on the first Saturday of break we cleared out the common areas of the house and began moving into our respective dorm rooms. Mike Chin [’05] and I are in a one room double on the first floor of Cushing.”

“We spent approximately nine hours in meetings that week regarding the mold and I still had work to do that was due during that week. This mold issue has completely affected my ability to perform in my academics,” said Denton.

According to Bergquist, Denton, and Sharpe, the students did not receive any information regarding the potential presence of mold in their TH before or during their move-in at the beginning of the semester. “Pretty much immediately we began noticing that [Lyndsey and I] had similar flu-like symptoms, fatigue, and dizziness. Lyndsey was the first to get really sick,” said Bergquist.

Bergquist e-mailed the students’ first complaint to Buildings and Grounds on Sept. 13. “B&G came and cleaned it, commenting the whole time about the health risks involved and how cleaning it would probably not cure the problem,” said Denton. “During freshman week when we first noticed it, B&G came by to clean our carpets that were showing signs of mold; they used some chemicals and left industrial fans to dry the carpets downstairs, the ones that were touching the floor which touches the basement roof, which we later found was infested with mold.”

“According to my conversation with Patrick Miller, Head of B&G, basement access is restricted in order to prevent people from creating ‘party rooms,’” said Bergquist. “However, Mr. Miller did tell me that he was aware that mold was present in the basements, as was severe water damage— the primary cause of mold.”