Mold Found In CU Campus Building

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Mold Found In CU Campus Building

15 Employees Complain Of Itchy Eyes, Throat

ABC 7 Denver

POSTED: 3:07 pm MDT October 12, 2006

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/10062730/detail.html?

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A file room in the Woodbury Arts and Sciences Building on the

University of Colorado campus was shut off to the public Thursday

after mold was discovered growing in the walls and several school

employees complained of symptoms.

The mold was discovered last Tuesday and 15 employees so far have

complained of itchy eyes and throat, runny nose or flu-like

symptoms, said Lou , director of CU's Department of

Environmental Health and Safety.

The mold, a form called stachybotrys, is believed to have been

caused by a heating malfunction that occurred several months ago and

tjat caused small leaks in the building's radiators, which

eventually saturated a wall in room 110 and led to growth of the

mold, school officials said.

Large furniture pieces that lined the wall prevented employees from

spotting the problem sooner, said.

The 120-year-old, four-story Woodbury Arts and Sciences Building is

the home of the College of Arts and Sciences Advising Resource

Center and faculty and staff offices of the East Asian Languages and

Civilizations department and some other arts and humanities offices.

No classes are held in the building, CU officials said.

Two firms will work on cleaning and abatement of the mold. Work will

begin Thursday night and continue through the weekend.

Xcel Environmental of Aurora is contracted to remove walls, clean

affected areas and erect barriers to prevent spread of the mold, and

Herron Enterprises Industrial Hygienists of Lakewood will monitor

the air in the building to ensure all the mold is removed.

Most of the mold is contained in the north wall of room 110 of

Woodbury, which is primarily a storage area for advising records of

students in the arts and sciences college. The records will be

sampled and inspected for mold through HEPA processing, or High

Efficiency Particulate Air, school officials said.

" Any wall in the building that is wet will be removed and disposed

of during the cleaning and abatement process that we're beginning

tonight to prevent spread of the mold, " said.

Although some small spots have been found beyond room 110, most of

the mold caused by the leaking radiators is located in that room, he

said.

A second source of mold in the basement level of Woodbury was

discovered when crews began investigating the source of water in

room 110 and found small areas of mold in the basement.

" The basement has been affected by water infiltrating from outside

the building's foundation, " said. " The building's roof

scuppers are not draining water away from the foundation wall. We

will also conduct abatement in the basement and later make

improvements to prevent water from entering the basement. "