Mold found in College residences

Katie Paul News Editor

Mold was discovered this summer in the College’s residential facilities for the second time in two years, with approximately nine Terrace Apartments (TAs) directly affected, according to Director of Environmental Health and Safety Jim Kelly.

For every contaminated apartment, an adjoining wall shared with another unit needed to be torn down, treated, and rebuilt, bringing the total number of houses affected by the incident to 18. Director of Residential Life Luis Inoa said that four URSI students living in TA 3 were moved to South Commons for the remainder of the summer, but that no other affected TAs were inhabited at the time.

Kelly reported that the mold was found just inside the entrance to the TAs during a routine end-of-summer re-inspection on Aug. 11. The College then hired a private environmental company to perform tests, treat the affected areas and handle the necessary repairs; a process that took a week to complete.

“Most of the time, the mold is located in a closet on the first floor where the water heater is,” said Kelly. “It appears that most mold needs moisture to live; if you can keep the humidity under 40 percent, you can generally keep mold from growing. It’s cellulosic, so it likes things that are made out of paper, organic. It loves sheetrock.”

Director of Facility Operations Kiki Williams added that they suspected that the moisture came from leaking bathroom tubs located directly over the affected areas. Inoa said that leaking toilets were also possible sources of mold growth, noting that an unreported toilet problem had caused conditions in TA 3 to worsen significantly.

A more serious infestation in the Town Houses (THs) in October 2004 forced ten students out of two houses after two of the students began to experience health problems from the mold toxins. The THs had to be completely renovated due to the extent of the mold. Neither Kelly nor Williams worked at Vassar during the TH mold problem and did not comment on any similarities the episode shared with the current TA issue.

Before concluding their work, the environmental company performed tests to determine whether mold levels outside the apartments matched those inside.

“An important part of this is pre/post-testing to ensure that the air inside is the same as or better than the air outside,” said Kelly. “The guideline is that if it’s the same as it is outside, it’s okay.” He added that there were no current mold guidelines provided by either the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Unlike the contamination in the THs, the mold in the TAs did not cause any known health problems. “The students most impacted were those here for the summer who had to move,” said Inoa.

In an Aug. 15 e-mail to all prospective residents of the affected TAs, Inoa wrote, “From what I gather, the mold should be remediated upon your arrival, but the rebuilding may take place into next week. We may be able to get your items to be stored in the rooms, but you may need to find some friends to stay with while the rebuilding is happening.”

However, some students were dissatisfied with when they received this information. “It was frustrating because I had purchased a plane ticket on the assumption that the date they had told me to move in was correct,” said TA 18 resident Ryan Meltzer ’07, who called handling of the incident “disorganized and ultimately inconvenient.”

Kelly emphasized the importance of notifying Buildings and Grounds quickly if students notice conditions likely to lead to mold growth. “If you guys see a space that has potential for mold contamination, call extension 5555 and we will get it fixed,” said Kelly.