Building suffers structural stress

[Guest guest]

Building suffers structural stress

School of social work sprouts mushroom, leaks, lead

Muse - St. 's,Newfoundland and Labrador,Canada*

By Hyslop

http://www.themuse.ca/view.php?aid=41142

St. 's College may be home to some of the best and brightest in

MUN's School of Social Work, but it's also sprouting mushrooms from

the walls, leaking water from the roof, and leeching lead from the

water pipes.

The Muse received an anonymous tip on March 25, that a window in the

east stairwell of the building, which was built in 1967, was

sprouting mushrooms and that Facilities Management had not done

anything to fix the situation. An investigation by the paper

verified the fungus claim.

Facilities Management wasn't initially aware of the mushroom problem

when asked for a comment, but later said the building custodian had

not removed the mushroom because they thought other officials should

see it first.

" Because the mushrooms grew, all that may have happened with the

mushroom is that there was a bit of seedling that may have been in

the air that got caught in a crack that had a bit of dirt in it and

was able to grow. The fact that a mushroom grew there doesn't mean

that it was mould, " said Darrell Miles, director of Facilities

Management.

Birnie-Lefcovitch, director of the School of Social Work, was

unavailable for comment by press time, but the Muse did speak with

another person at the school, who also wished to remain anonymous.

They said the school's problems extended to the ceiling on the

fourth floor, specifically a leak over the water fountain.

" We're needing to be bumped up on the priority list of things that

need to be done at Memorial, " they said.

The person said the Department of Health and Safety came to the

building to conduct air quality testing in 2006, but that the

results showed no mould problems. But they still say their office

smells like mould.

" There is no mould problem in the building that I'm aware of. Like I

said, in terms of the area where that stairwell was leaking, we have

the custodial staff monitor that on a constant basis. We have all of

the areas, in terms of the windows and everything, cleaned with …

bleach to ensure that mould doesn't start growing, " said Miles.

The water fountains are also covered in garbage bags, with letters

posted above them warning students, faculty, and staff that there

are unhealthy levels of lead in the water and that the water

shouldn't be consumed. The letter is signed by Miles, and dated

Sept. 27, 2001.

According to an article in the Feb. 16, 2001 issue of the Muse, lead

levels inside buildings in the northern section of the campus,

including St. 's College and Queen's College, were found to be

slightly higher than the 0.010 mg per litre limit, but were three

times the acceptable limit in the intake pipes.

" [in 2001] we confirmed that there was some lead deposits in the

water, which more than likely are coming from lead leeching out from

soldering that was used in piping in the building, and that's when …

that note that had been put there by me in 2001 to ensure that

people were well aware, " said Miles.

" So the lead that is present in the water does exceed the levels,

which is totally consistent with what happens when you have the

older style plumbing with soldering that has lead in the soldering,

and so that's why we provide the water supply to them. It's

perfectly safe to wash dishes with and use the water for all other

types of uses other than consumption. "

Miles said the cost of providing the school with water coolers is

much cheaper than the price and inconvenience of replacing all the

plumbing in the building.

" [Water coolers are] available on every floor but it's kind of

inconvenient if you don't have your own water bottle, then you have

to go find one, " said Allie Winter, a third-year social work

student.

" We were wondering why we couldn't drink the water here and why it

was so leaky, and [the staff] just said that the reason we can't

drink the water is because of something in the pipes in the

building. That's all that was said about it. "

The roof is something that Miles says will be fixed as budget

allows, and repairs have been coming as they can afford them, the

last ones happening during the fall semester.

" That means in our new budget, which would be in this upcoming

fiscal year, that we've allocated money … that's one of the areas of

roof repairs that we've identified, in terms of fixing the roof, "

said Miles.

" And so once we get our budget, once the University gets the budget

information from the government for this year, we'll be able to

allocate the funds to the various projects that we have, and that'll

be one of them. "

Winter says it's visible that the building is in need of repairs,

but that it doesn't affect her learning experience that much.

" It would definitely be nicer to be in a better building, but it

doesn't have a big effect on us, I guess, " she said.

[Guest guest]

What a NIGHTMARE!!! Think of what is happening to all those students being

exposed! I constantly think and worry about the future and how sick everyone

is going to be.

Building suffers structural stress

School of social work sprouts mushroom, leaks, lead

Muse - St. 's,Newfoundland and Labrador,Canada*

By Hyslop

_http://www.themuse.http://www.thttp://ww_

(http://www.themuse.ca/view.php?aid=41142)

St. 's College may be home to some of the best and brightest in

MUN's School of Social Work, but it's also sprouting mushrooms from

the walls, leaking water from the roof, and leeching lead from the

water pipes.

The Muse received an anonymous tip on March 25, that a window in the

east stairwell of the building, which was built in 1967, was

sprouting mushrooms and that Facilities Management had not done

anything to fix the situation. An investigation by the paper

verified the fungus claim.

Facilities Management wasn't initially aware of the mushroom problem

when asked for a comment, but later said the building custodian had

not removed the mushroom because they thought other officials should

**************Planning your summer road trip? Check out AOL Travel Guides.

(http://travel.aol.com/travel-guide/united-states?ncid=aoltrv00030000000016)