Forum held to discuss growing mold concerns

An environmental health official with the Board of Regents said Terrell and Beeson halls have no widespread mold problems.

But some on campus remain skeptical.

Alex Lehocky, the environmental health and safety program manager for the Board of Regents, walked through the buildings for two and a half hours and presented his findings and recommendations Jan. 28.

Photo provided by Jeffrey Blick

Jeffrey Blick, a professor of anthropology, takes mold samples from the ceiling of the third floor in Terrell Hall.

Also, Jeffrey Blick, a professor of anthropology, who until recently occupied an office in Terrell Hall, contacted made university officials about possible mold contamination.

“There is something wrong with (Terrell) and you guys are trying to whitewash this over,” Blick said at the Jan. 28 forum. “It is more serious than you think it is. You need to be poking holes in walls and you need to be more aggressive as to what you’re doing. Because there is something absolutely wrong with this building, I would stake my career on it.”

In September, Blick reported suffering from many mold exposure symptoms including consistent headaches, shortness of breath, chronic bronchitis, dizziness and nausea.

“I have been told by two doctors­—that is, my general practitioner and I’ve been told by an infectious disease specialist—and the regional EPA office in Atlanta to stay out of the building for health reasons,” Blick said.

Since his first complaint, Blick has also been in touch with numerous current and past employees who suffered heath problems, which they relate to their office environment in Terrell Hall.

“The two most recent people that were made the most sick are in the offices that have the strongest presence for mold, and some very scary sounding mold,” Blick said.

Blick referred to himself and Victoria Smalls, the administrative assistant for interdisciplinary studies, who’s office was previously located on the third floor of Terrell.

In response to the concerns, on Dec. 2, Justin Gaines, coordinator of emergency preparedness and occupational safety, sent out an Environmental Protection Agency survey to see if other faculty or staff in the buildings had been affected by mold. Of the 61 faculty members in Terrell and Beeson Halls, 28 members completed the survey. The results indicated there were no widespread symptoms of mold contamination.

Then, Georgia College hired U.S. Compliance to provide mold reports for Beeson Hall.

Finally, the Board of Regents representative inspected the buildings.

Lehocky did find a few problem spots in Beeson, which will require further attention due to water intrusion.

“There are some things that we will have to do as an institution to address these issues, but fortunately for the institution, they are very isolated, and I consider them minor,” Lehocky said.

Lehocky suggests minor fixes and maintenance to avoid future possibility of contamination including cleaning dirty air conditioning units and replanting potted plants and providing trays for over-watering.

The more aggressive procedure of mold sampling was dismissed by the Board of Regents and will not be done in either hall.

Lehocky stressed that mold sampling is a controversial topic and are not scientifically reliable.

“If we do a careful enough evaluation, we don’t need to do sampling— almost never,” Lehocky said.

But Blick has taken some samples of his own.

Unsatisfied with the reports by U.S. Compliance, Blick began taking mold samples in Terrell using a kit from Lowe’s and sending it to Pro-Lab/SSPTM Inc. in Weston, Flor., for processing.

“Of the 11 tests, 8 have shown positive unusual conditions for mold. That’s about 73 percent of the samples,” Blick said.

Proposed solutions:

To combat the mold issues in Terrell and Beeson halls, Plant Operations has formulated a mold remediation plan, which began the first week of January.

“I don’t believe for an average person, without some predisposition for allergies and that type of thing, I don’t believe the building is a health risk,” Groseclose said. “If there was something that we knew about in that building that was a health risk to anyone who went into it we wouldn’t have people in that building.”

Plant Operations has already removed debris in the basement of Terrell Hall and will see to removing the asbestos covered tiles from the basement. According to Interim Director of Plant Operations, Dave Groseclose, the asbestos is not putting anyone in the building at risk since it is contained in the basement.

An independent contractor will have to be hired for the removal of the tiles. Plant Operations plans to schedule this at a time when the majority of students, faculty and staff will not be on campus, possibly during Spring Break.

Officials emphasize most strains of mold are common and do not cause health issues.

“We are reacting to the mold in that building due to the health concerns of the occupants of that building,” Groseclose said. “We’re going to go the extra mile to try to find all the mold that we can in that building and get it cleaned up, but a year from now, some of it’s going to be back; it’s just the nature of it.”

All air conditioning units in both buildings are undergoing cleaning by the mechanical and custodial staff. Mold visually accumulates on the units due to nearly constant presence of moisture.

“We’re going to start training (the custodial staff) to keep an eye out in case they see mold,” Groseclose said. “It hasn’t been a specific focus in the past but we’ll start trying to do a better job of monitoring this.”

In February, the carpet will be cleaned in the lower levels of Beeson Hall and all floors of Terrell Hall, and a Dry-Core machine will be installed on the third floor of Terrell to act as a dehumidifier.

Despite the university and Board of Regents steps, some are not satisfied with their efforts to evaluate and in turn remedy the problem.

“My personal opinion,” Blick said, “is that the building needs to be renovated top to bottom, gutted and renovated, people need to be moved out of the building. It is unsafe.”

Posted by Katelyn Hebert on Feb 3 2011. Filed under Lead stories, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.