Multiple rooms in McCarthy Hall were found to be growing mold in multiple places. Saint Xavier Residence Life and Facilities and Services responded promptly, removing the mold and ensuring the safety of the residents.
Rooms 125, 126 and 226 were affected. On Monday, September 9, the residents of room 126 reported that there was mold in their room. The room was inspected later that afternoon, with a more detailed assessment taking place Tuesday afternoon. It was determined that the students should not be living there.
Katy Thompson, Associate Dean of Students and Director of Resident Life, said that “In room 125 there was some surface mold, and some areas with mold around the ceiling. In room 126, there was water that was leaking which was contributing to humidity, which in turn caused the growth of mold.”
Peter Skach, Director of Facilities Services, said “We inspected the rooms above126. Moisture was coming into 126 for a reason, so we checked the rooms above. There was also a small amount of mold found on the H.V.A.C. duct in room 226, directly above 126. We took care of that as well the next day. The carpet was becoming wet in 126, and that was due to a drain pan that had leaked.”
“The drain pan was not draining properly, and consequently, it overflowed, creating the wet carpet. There were, on very humid days, windows open as well. The windows are positioned right underneath the cool air duct, so hot humid air was coming up, and enveloping the duct with warm air, causing condensation, creating a perfect environment for mold.”
“We also found that the dehumidifier was not in its proper position, it had been moved. I’m not saying the students did it, but it was not in the proper position in which it could function continuously. There were numerous factors that created the conditions for mold.”
“The students requested to be relocated while the cleanup was being done. The four students that lived in 125 and 126 were relocated to a vacant Riviera apartment temporarily.” Said Director Thompson.
The mold was taken care of rather quickly, and the students returned to the rooms the Friday of the same week.
According to Director Skach, “First of all, we got the dehumidification running, as it should be running, and we were taking care of manually scrubbing off the affected areas. We did it in a pretty vigorous way, because we wanted to make certain that it was gone.“
“We used two cleaning chemicals, one specifically designed for mold. We scrubbed the mold, and then treated the surface with the product, and then we did another cleaning, and we thoroughly dried out all the surfaces, which was primarily on the duct work, on the outside surface of the duct.”
“We also treated some of the wall areas
the same way, where the paint had peeled away, we had removed the paint, let those areas dry, and treated them with the cleaner as well, drying them afterwards. Once we had thoroughly dried, we did any patching or repainting that we needed to do to restore them to proper condition.”
This is not the first time that room 126 had mold in it. “Back in 2011, room 126 had a similar thing happen. Since then we haven’t been aware of any such issues; they weren’t reported. Back in 2011, is when we had done a similar cleanup, we weren’t sure what was causing the mold. There was higher humidity in the room, so we decided to put a humidifier in, as a safeguard. Since then, there weren’t any further issues.” Said Director Skach.
“There weren’t any further issues in 2011, It happened on opening day in August, opening weekend. We think it’s a combination of the room being unoccupied for several months and the temperatures outside weren’t well balanced. Also, one of the windows was open.”
“The mold was cleaned up, again, in a few days, and the students continued to live there for the rest of the academic year. Last year, students moved in, moved out, without incident.” Said Director Thompson.
Director Skach said that “The most important thing that students can do is report anything that is unusual. unfortunately, we cant do anything unless we know about it. If there’s something that causes concern in their room, they should bring it to the attention of a hall director, an RA or Residence Life. That is the most important, paramount to anything else.”
Robert Lachowski
News Editor
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