An independent testing company is scheduled to performair-quality sampling tests today after a steam pipe leak resultedin mold growth in a in LaFollette Complex residence hall room. Theroom's two residents were hospitalized earlier this week forillnesses resulting from the mold.
Megan Diaz and Teya Enerson, freshmen roommates on the fifthfloor of Brayton-Clevenger Hall, went to Ball Memorial HospitalMonday evening after mold was discovered on the back of theirdresser and the wall behind it. Diaz, who suffers from moldallergies and asthma, was treated for sinusitis and an upperrespiratory infection, and Enerson was treated for sinusitis and aheadache, Diaz said. Both were released early Tuesday morning.
Diaz said she noticed puddles on the floor near her dresser latelast week, and the students in the room below hers put in a requestfor maintenance to fix leaking ceiling tiles. Maintenance officialsdiscovered a steam pipe leak inside the wall adjacent to thedresser, and Monday morning a crew member moved the dresser to makerepairs.
"There was mold everywhere," Diaz said, noting it was growing onthe bottom and upper corners of the dresser and on the wall.
George Edwards, the Associate Director of Housing and ResidenceLife Facilities, said the steam pipe had been leaking for a whileand resulted in an unusual case of mold growth because the leak wasin the enclosed space behind the dresser.
"It was just in a weird location," he said. "This is the firsttime we've had a mold problem."
After opening the wall and repairing the leak, Edwards said themaintenance crew member patched the wall. Diaz and Enerson,disturbed by the disarray in their room, asked their hall directorfor a new place to live and were offered a room on the seventhfloor of their hall, Diaz said. They have chosen to sleep in theroom of neighboring residents, however, because the the seventhfloor room was dusty.
"It was not a place to send someone sick," Enerson said.
The students began experiencing headaches, fatigue, coughing,watery eyes and sinus congestion about three weeks ago. FreshmanMeredith Rogers, one of the residents whose room Diaz and Enersonsleep in, said she and other floor residents also have noticed thesame symptoms.
Edwards said the Environmental Safety Department examined Diazand Enerson's room Monday and that plans are underway formaintenance to check the rooms surrounding Diaz and Enerson's.
"There's been a lot of concerns with the students," he said. "Wewant to make sure our students are fine. That's our mainconcern."
Diaz said the university is paying for their hospital bills andcrediting $130 to their bursar accounts for the damages andinconveniences caused.
The students also received $20 in change for laundry.
"We're living in half our room," Enerson said. "It's a hassle,and it's just stressing us out."
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