School overhaul may end 'the smell'

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School overhaul may end 'the smell'

The chalky odor has annoyed Wolf Elementary for 2 years.

town Morning Call - town,PA*

By Duck | Of The Morning Call

January 17, 2008

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/allb1_4gwolf.6228849jan17,0,5987874.s

tory

They call it ''the smell'' -- a chalky, musty, damp odor at

Wolf Elementary in Bath that seems to make some teachers and

students sick.

Despite years of air-quality tests and input from dozens of experts,

the smell's source is still a mystery to school officials.

Ripping up the school's old carpet in 2006 didn't solve the problem,

so officials have made plans to tear out old ductwork and much of

the school's air-conditioning system during a $17.19 million

renovation and expansion of the school.

But officials won't know for months whether that work will eliminate

the odor, or if the work will have been a diversion costing hundreds

of thousands of dollars.

''I guess you just hope that we're doing everything that we could

possibly do,'' Principal Monaghan said, adding

that ''everyone has their opinion'' about the smell's source.

Math teacher Margaret Leibenguth said the smell forced her into an

early retirement last year.

''I was so nauseous, my eyes were burning, my throat was burning, my

ears were closing -- this was every single day,'' said Leibenguth,

whose symptoms started in 2006 after 20 years teaching at the school.

Leibenguth said her doctors diagnosed her with ''sick building

syndrome'' but never figured out exactly what caused her symptoms.

Some teachers and students reported rashes, headaches or sinus

infections, but Monaghan stressed that others have had much milder

symptoms or none at all. Student attendance rates haven't changed

noticeably from year to year, Monaghan said.

Noting that the smell seems to be worst during warm weather,

officials now say the school's air conditioning system is the most

likely culprit.

The system's ventilation ducts were built with insulation inside,

which might be starting to deteriorate. Monaghan said he spoke with

an expert at a national indoor air quality symposium in December who

agreed that replacing the ducts might help.

In addition, the Northampton Area School Board decided Monday to

replace the system's air-handling units.

All that work is now part of the school's $17.19 million renovation,

which will add 21,000 square feet of classroom space to keep up with

the school's growing student population. Engineers and district

officials agreed the best time to overhaul the air conditioning

would be while other contractors build a new gym, cafeteria and

classrooms.

More than a year before renovations began in September, other air-

quality experts suspected mold was the problem and recommended

getting rid of the building's wall-to-wall carpeting, which was

nearly worn out.

Instead, complaints about the air increased after the carpet was

pulled up. ''I can't explain that spike in the complaints,''

Monaghan said.

Because some teachers worried that concrete dust from the newly bare

floors was making the smell worse, the concrete was treated twice

with sealer, Monaghan said. Speculation about gases seeping up

through cracks in the concrete led to more tests, but they were

inconclusive.

''We've done a million things here, trying to eliminate all the

possibilities,'' said Bob Yanders, Northampton Area School

District's director of operations.

He ticked off a list of other preventive measures that haven't fixed

the problem: testing for mold and bacteria, cleaning the air-

handling units, installing air filters that use ultraviolet light to

kill germs and even testing the rocks on the roof.

As for the latest proposed solution, officials will have to wait

until construction ends next year to find out if the new air

conditioning system finally kills the smell.

''[We're] just looking forward to the renovations and construction

project to hopefully put an end to all this,'' Monaghan said.

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