Mold forces students out of two THs

Walter Padilla News Editor

Currently vacant, Town Houses D2 and D7 are presently undergoing renovation after high levels of mold posed health risks to its residents. The Residential Life Office and Buildings and Grounds estimate that the ten displaced students, who were relocated into temporary dormitory housing, will be able to move back into their respective THs by Friday, Nov. 12.

“In the last couple of years, we’ve had minor [mold] problems…But it’s only been this year that it has permeated throughout the house, and in some places in the basement,” said Residential Life Director Faith Nichols.

According to Sebastian Denton ’05, he and housemate Michael Chin ’05 first noticed the mold in the closet the week of Aug. 23. “We didn’t think much of it, and noted that we should mention it to Buildings and Grounds...It really was called to my attention when Kirstin [Bergquist ’05]…saw it and realized the potential health/sanitary hazards that it may have been, and still was, bringing to our house,” said Denton.

Bergquist first notified TH manager Melissa Kipp ’05 about the mold on Sept. 13. “We noticed the [mold] problem in late August, and Buildings and Grounds addressed it,” said Nichols. “It wasn’t until the beginning of or mid-September that it was brought to our attention again and Buildings and Grounds went out.”

“They did some extracting and cleaning, and I think most of the problems faded. But in [D7,] where we had a leak in the kitchen that we weren’t aware of, no matter what we did, it was going to continue because that leak continued to go into the floorboard all the way into the living room,” said Nichols.
“Shortly after the mold was cleaned from the closet in the bathroom downstairs, we started to notice a moldy smell coming from our heating vents, suggesting that the mold was not only in the wall between our bathroom and the kitchen, but also in the basement where our air comes from,” said Denton.

On Sept. 23, Buildings and Grounds was informed that the mold was still heavily present in D7, despite cleaning efforts.

According to Director of Environmental Health and Safety Michael Spath, samples of the mold were taken and analyzed after two students reported health problems including dizziness, fever, loss of appetite, vertigo, eye, nose, and throat irritation, and headaches. “Usually, we don’t attempt to sample the mold unless there are problems, because mold is mold; it doesn’t take a lot to realize there is mold somewhere,” said Spath. “When students were reporting health problems, we went in and took some tape tests and sent them off to an outside consultant to have them anyalyzed.”

The report made by local microbiologist Daniel Friedman, dated Oct. 7, showed the presence of common molds, including aspergillus and penicillium, as well as stachybotrys chartarum spores, a toxic mold.

“Being that there was only a spore or two of the more toxic mold, it is not really a concern,” said Spath. “There were no spore chains, so we can rule out the fact that there was actually growing mold of a toxic nature in that facility.”

“Pennicillium and aspergillus… are everywhere and in every place, and unless you are allergic or immune-compromised, there is no grave danger from it. There is one in a couple of thousand people who are [very] allergic and they show health effects from what you and I could tolerate very easily,” he added.

According to Denton, both Bergquist and housemate Lynsdey Williams ’05 went for blood tests at Baldwin, and their results showed presence of mold toxins in their blood. “I had to fight to get blood work done at Baldwin to show that I was indeed allergic to this mold,” said Williams.

On Oct. 14, the residents of D2 and D7 met with Residential Life and Buildings and Grounds to discuss temporary housing, food, financial reimbursements, and the renovation of both THs. “Room arrangements were discussed in a meeting that Thursday, but because of various mistakes on the school’s behalf, no one was able to move until after October break had begun,” said Bergquist.
To the students’ frustration, schedules and information from Residential Life failed to get to them in a timely manner, which led the students to contact President Frances Fergusson and ask for her support.

According to Williams, Buildings and Grounds said they would help move the students into the dorms on Saturday, Oct 23, but no one was present to help them and, after calling the extension given to them, only a voicemail answered.

She also commented that, before conversations were under way about the students’ necessary move-out, Bergquist was asked to leave the Buildings and Grounds office until she spoke to a lawyer, due to a false rumor that a TH resident was going to sue the College. “The biggest problem was contact between our house and the administration,” commented Bergquist.

“Communication in every organization is a problem of one level of seriousness or another. Communication is made better and confusion is minimized by everyone, students or administration, doing what they should do regardless of what response they think they are going to get,” said Dean of the College JJ Jackson. “Because if you say to yourself ‘Well, it is not going to do any good to tell the administration so we will just live with our mold problem,’ then you have actually denied the administration the opportunity to try to deal with it…The administration is not a monolithic entity, it is not one person; the administration is an intricate network of professionals here to try to make the life of the student and faculty better.”

Res Life has agreed to pay all cleaning bills for clothing, reimburse the students $695 worth of food that had to be thrown out due to mold contamination, and provide them with appropriate parking passes to park legally on-campus. In addition, the Office has put enough meal points on the students’ meal cards to carry them through Nov. 12.

Buildings and Grounds commenced work on the TH’s flooring, kitchens, and bathrooms on Monday, Oct. 18. According to Capital Projects Manager Karen Quigley, all the carpeting in the units, as well as the current kitchen facilities will be cleaned or replaced as necessary. All walls and ceilings containing mold will be ripped out and replaced, plumbing will be checked, and bathtubs and furnaces cleaned. According to Executive Director of Buildings and Grounds Thomas Allen, his office traced the cause of D7’s significant mold problem to water seeping into the basement from behind its kitchen sink. He stated D2 will also be renovated, even though there was no visible mold in either D2’s first or second floors.

“We didn’t see any mold in D2, but the smell of mold was there. There was some visible mold in D2’s basement sheetrock, but that has already been addressed,” said Quigley.

“With water and a warm environment, bacteria will develop, especially in bathrooms and kitchen sinks,” said Manager for Custodial Services Cynthia Van Tassell. She stated that mold may develop in walls behind stoves or refrigerators if the appropriate conditions are present.

Quigley and Van Tassell ask Terrace Apartments, Town Houses, and South Commons residents to keep bathrooms clean and be aware of any mildew. Van Tassell also suggests that a way to prevent mold and mildew in both apartment and dormitory housing is for students to use the exhaust fans and crack a window while they shower.

“The next step now is to spend the rest of this winter and early spring looking at extended work and then putting into plan by next summer a complete renovation of the Town Houses,” said Nichols.

“If [students] see continuing problems in the Town Houses, and I hope they won’t because we went through a lot of stuff to get rid of that mold, but if they see the slightest thing, do not wait, let us know right away. And to be assured that those who are coming back in the fall…they will see a whole different set of living conditions,” said Jackson. She also stated that the College has hired an architectural firm that will go through all of the College’s dorm rooms to assess the status of the residence halls.

“One thing I will say to both administrators and students: we are on the same team. So, tensions and adversarial remarks and feelings are useless,” said Jackson. “Just say what the problem is because as hard as Residential Life and Buildings and Grounds work, they cannot know everything… Students should take the liberty just to say, and they don’t have to feel they are going to battle, just say ‘here is the problem, this is its effect on us and this is our concern, please tell us what’s next.’”

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High Mold Levels force two THs to close down Oct. 29, 2004