The Graduate Admissions Office, located in the basement of Holden Hall, received results from the Environmental Health and Safety Department at Texas Tech that the air quality in the work environment contains no immediate health danger.
“We sent a memo on Nov. 6 stating our conclusion,” said Matt Roe, of Environmental Health and Safety. “We haven’t found anything that would concern anyone working down there. All the tests came back negative.”
The offices first were inspected Sept. 15, when complaints about the carpets being damp and mildewy were addressed, along with reported black material precipitating out of the air ducts. After nothing was found at that time, a second investigation was conducted in October after further complaints were made regarding employees’ health related to the air quality. A list that was compiled with symptoms of employees included asthma and staphylococcus, which can cause a wide variety of infections
Fred Hartmeister, dean of the Graduate School, is working with the Texas Tech Physical Plant to figure out the next course of action in terms of remediation.
“The chair mats are trapping water, so we are talking about getting rid of those,” he said. “The major thing is duct cleaning, and we are trying to get dates together on the weekends to do that so it is minimally intrusive for everyone working within the office.”
Hartmeister said with commencement coming up in December, he is hoping the day-to-day work being done in the office will not be affected by the cleaning.
“The bottom line is making the environment as safe as possible,” he said. “We want to prevent medical problems, and we wish to do this all reasonably quickly.”
Floor replacement also was recommended by the inspection, Hartmeister said. The carpet will be looked at to see what lies underneath, and if the ground is smooth, considerations for tile will be made. Tightening the area around the windows also will be looked at to ensure there is no more water intrusion.
“I’ve asked the staff to bring to my attention any ideas, questions and concerns so we can be as responsive as possible to this issue,” he said.
Other employees in the office declined to comment on the issue.
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