LODGING COMPLAINTS: Mold reports, ailments noted in older dorms

[Guest guest]

LODGING COMPLAINTS: Mold reports, ailments noted in older dorms

CAROLYN CRIST

Issue date: 2/27/09 Section: News

Red and Black - Athens,GA,USA

http://media.www.redandblack.com/media/storage/paper871/news/2009/02/2

7/News/Lodging.Complaints.Mold.Reports.Ailments.Noted.In.Older.Dorms-

3652025.shtml

Media Credit: Courtesy Whitaker

Mold last year in Lipscomb Hall's room 423. Residents said that it

caused constant illness.

[Click to enlarge]

When it comes to more than 30 reports of mold in four dorms during

the past year, old buildings are to blame.

Nine rooms in Mell Hall, nine rooms in Lipscomb, eight rooms in

Creswell and five rooms in Payne have reported mold problems since

January 2008 - and many of them reported problems two or three times.

" What are we dealing with here? With ECV in the mix, which opened in

2004, about two-thirds of our residence halls are more than 40 years

old, " said Gerard Kowalski, executive director of University Housing,

in an interview Monday. " If you take ECV out of the mix, that number

gets to be even higher. Basically we're dealing with a set of

situations here that are historical. "

In buildings such as Lipscomb and Mell - both built in 1961 - old

steam pipes previously used to heat the rooms are the culprits. In

Creswell, built in 1963, many of the older air conditioners are

collecting dirt and mold.

" In Mell it happened to be a broken steam pipe and that steam pipe

was leaking and created moisture on the fourth floor there, " Kowalski

said, citing several rooms that reported mold after a pipe broke

between rooms 420 and 418.

'I couldn't breathe'

" Every house and every building has mold, but the question is what

kind do you have and how much do you have, " said Shane Hill, owner of

Environmental Solutions Group and National Property Inspections in

Athens. " People vary in their sensitivity to mold. For someone with

bad allergies, just a bit can set them off. "

Of the nine Lipscomb rooms that reported mold problems, repeat

complaints popped up in one corner - 420, 421, 422, 423 - and just

below in room 321.

From the work orders:

420: (reported April 28, 2008) We have disgusting black mold growing

all over our walls. It was cleaned once when we got back from

Christmas break, but it came right back. It isn't healthy and we are

starting to get sick. (reported Jan. 9, 2009) There is mold growing

all over the wall around the windows. I am allergic to mold.

421: (reported Jan. 20, 2009) Someone came and inspected the room for

mold. It's all over the wall and window.

422: (reported Jan. 7, 2008) Our room has an EXTREMELY bad smell that

just seems to be getting worse. We think it might be mold in the

walls because we cannot find anything in the room that may be the

source of the smell. Please send someone to check it out and check

for mold.

423: (reported Feb. 11, 2008) There has been a serious leak in the

corner of the room ... The leaks have been so serious that mold

rapidly grows after each rain and spreads quickly right next to where

one person sleeps.

The 423 residents reported sprawling mold after the winter break and

had it cleaned four times in spring 2008, but after that " we got

tired of getting Housing to clean again and again and so we just gave

up, " said Whitaker, a sophomore from Marietta.

" They'd clean it really well and we'd keep the air off so it wouldn't

come back, but it would grow back on the walls, our desks and even my

loft. "

Whitaker said although she's never had health concerns with

allergies, she was sick from January to May 2008.

" Coughing, bad headaches, congestion, " she said. " I couldn't breathe.

Antibiotics would help, but it wouldn't go away. "

Whitaker said she knew others were sick on her hall in their rooms,

and her mom wrote a work order as well.

" Every time I'd usually get a response that these buildings are just

old, " said her mom, Marcotte. " But it was a health hazard. It

shouldn't be recurring. They'd basically just bleach part of the

room. We talked to our doctor about it, and whether people are

sensitive to the mold or not, get sick or not, these were

unacceptable living standards. I considered sending her medical bills

and prescription receipts to the University to pay, but some people

would just say, 'good luck with that.' "

The Lipscomb residents weren't the only ones reporting health

problems. In Creswell Hall, the mold spores are found on various

floors in the air conditioning units.

From the work orders:

231: (reported Sept. 5, 2008) My roommate and I are getting sick

through the mold that our air conditioner is creating.

654: (reported Sept. 8) Our air conditioner is moldy and making our

room damp and unlivable ... Between my roommate and myself, this is

our third request to have our moldy air conditioner fixed.

809: (reported Sept. 26) A/C unit is spraying out dust and mold which

is causing allergic reactions.

351: (reported Jan. 13, 2009) We moved in and our air conditioning

unit was very moldy. It smelled and was black with mold on the inside

so we took it apart and cleaned it. However, my roommate and I have

been consistently sick since our arrival to Athens and are afraid we

may have a mold issue.

In Payne Hall, residents noticed mold found both on walls and in the

air conditioners.

From the work orders:

259: (reported Jan. 29, 2008) Our air conditioner is leaking, and

there is mold in our room.

225: (reported Sept. 15) I recently noticed that the wall near my bed

has different types of growths on it. I thought the stains were

accumulated dust particles so I wiped them off the wall. However, the

stains (mildew) reappeared a day later. I also noticed that that

particular wall is leaking water.

323: (reported Jan. 23, 2009) I put in a work order earlier this

semester about mold that was growing on my wall. The mold was cleaned

off and the leak in the ceiling near this wall in the hallway was

fixed also. I noticed the other day that the mold is beginning to

grow back.

Killing it at the source

When residents report mold, Housing workers try to clean the mold

first and then involve the Physical Plant if complaints continue and

the building needs to be investigated.

In some rooms, three or four reports were made before workers found

the source of moisture.

" We want to be careful if we're going to bust up a wall, " Kowalski

said. " We want to make sure we're going to find something ... it

might be that a resident might report more than once that this has

been problematic. It's a matter of how assertive we're going to be in

terms of responding to it. "

In the case of Mell Hall, " there was a smell we just couldn't get a

handle on and the residents just kept saying this is a problem and we

finally went after the steam pipe, " he said.

University Housing used an outside consultant to conduct an indoor

air quality analysis of Mell Hall on Feb. 11, 2009.

" According to their findings, only common molds were found to be

present inside the building, " Kowalski wrote in an e-mail

Thursday. " The consultants determined after careful analysis that

none of the molds detected in Mell Hall produced mycotoxins, thereby

posing no significant health hazard to residents. "

The company recommended a hospital-grade disinfectant for cleaning

and asked to return and retest soon, Kowalski said on Monday.

Hill said the key is identifying what's causing the mold and fixing

the source, otherwise it will grow again.

" There's a common misconception that bleach kills mold, and it

doesn't. You have to kill mold at the spores, " he said.

Hill, who cleaned mold as part of his Athens business for several

years, said he only encountered toxic mold once or twice.

" Mold can be anywhere - even on kitchen cabinets and in perfectly

clean areas, " he said. " The key is just making sure you're limiting

the conditions for growth. "

These conditions could be " something as simple as a dripping faucet

or complex as something you can't see, " said Peek, a doctoral

student of housing and consumer economics. Peek has published several

pamphlets for the College of Family and Consumer Sciences about mold

in homes.

" According to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies,

mold in damp indoor environments is associated with upper respiratory

(nasal and throat) tract symptoms, cough, hypersensitivity

pneumonitis in susceptible persons, wheeze and asthma symptoms in

sensitized persons, " she wrote about the effects of mold. " Only a few

fungi produce toxins on their spores. However, it is best to limit

your exposure to all molds. "

Around town: Apartment regulations

Many local apartment complexes include an addendum in their lease

agreement to encourage residents to watch for mold.

" We have it in our lease agreement that you have to clean regularly

and take your part to eliminate possibilities [of mold conditions],

but if they do see anything they contact our office, " said Debra

Poole, property manager for Rivermill Apartments. " We have a seven-

day treatment for it. And everyone on staff had to take mold and

mildew online classes to be preventative. "

At Abbey West Apartments, residents must also sign an addendum and

report any problems orally and in writing.

" Our treatment depends on how they manage and maintain their

apartment, " said Purser, leasing agent of Abbey West.

" A lot of people aren't aware of what mold is and what it can and

can't do, what's harmful and what's not, so we try to be proactive, "

Poole said.

The bottom line

Because some people are more susceptible to mold allergies than

others, Kowalski said Housing has to base maintenance work on how

students report the problem.

" The bottom line is if a student feels like the environment in the

room is not positive for them, then we want to work with them to find

another space, " he said. " We're really going to rely on the student

to tell us if they feel like, even if we're doing everything we can

to try to manage the conditions in the room, and the student still

feels like 'this is just not for me,' they have an opportunity to

find another space. "

But with the gain of 185 transfer students this spring, " Our

occupancy for the spring semester is almost 100 percent and that

gives us a little bit less flexibility than we typically would have

had, " Kowalski said.