The mold situation in Edens Quadrangle is heating up.
Eddie Hull, dean of residence life and executive director of housing services, sent an e-mail Tuesday in which he informed residents of Edens 3A and 3B that their air conditioning will be turned off, and remain off, in response to a mold contamination discovered Aug. 24.
Officials are planning to clean the affected ventilation systems either during Fall Break or Winter Break--when the buildings are not occupied. The air vents cannot be used until the cleaning process is completed.
Wayne Thomann, director of the Occupational and Environmental Safety Office, said that if the air-conditioning system was allowed to continue running, the moving air may bring mold contamination into dorm rooms.
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"The best thing to do right now is to hit the pause button, turn off the air conditioning and control the environment," Hull said. "The environment is now stabilized."
He added that the winter heating system will not be affected.
Students were informed last week that air vents would be cleaned for mold Monday and Tuesday, shutting off air conditioning temporarily.
Maintenance workers discovered, however, that the job was more difficult than anticipated, and administrators decided to reschedule the cleaning, Hull said.
Many residents mourned the loss of air conditioning.
"It's about a 10-minute walk from Main West to [Edens]," said sophomore Wey Ruetten. "It's much nicer to enter an air-conditioned room afterwards."
Sophomore Michael Jacob said he wants a refund from the University for air conditioning fees.
Hull said a decision about returning a portion of room charges would depend on how long the situation lasts and the impact it has on students.
The changes in plans are not in response to a worsening mold contamination, he explained, maintaining that the environment is safe for students to live in.
To ensure mold growth will not reach an unsafe level, weekly samples will be collected from Edens 3A and 3B, Thomann said.
The University is currently looking into what caused the mold growth, Thomann said. OESO will also be examining other dormitories for presence of mold, Hull said, adding that talks regarding ways to prevent future mold growth will begin after responding to the current contamination.
"Properly running [ventilation] systems that are cleaned often shouldn't have this problem," said sophomore Josh Sommer, who discovered the mold and was relocated to Craven Quadrangle because he is hypersensitive to mold.
Sommer has spent the past few years researching mold toxins and has championed a congressional bill that would mandate research on, and help victims of, mold poisoning.
Students with medical conditions requiring air conditioning can request to be relocated, Hull noted, adding that he does not know of any requests made this week.
Sommer said the University is taking the right step.
"This is very inconvenient for students and [the officials] were probably very reluctant to [turn off the air conditioning] but it's better safe than sorry," he said. "Student health is the most important thing."
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