HANOVER — Ten Dartmouth College undergraduates are living in local hotels this week while mold in their residence halls is being remediated, a college spokeswoman said.
The students’ move came after an environmental consultant for the college found mold in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system in Andres and Zimmerman Halls, two of the dorms off East Wheelock Street.
Due to the mold, the college offered residents with sensitivities, such as those with compromised immune systems or respiratory issues, the chance to move to a local hotel for the week. Ten residents of the affected dorms, which house a total of 164 students, took the offer, said Diana Lawrence, a Dartmouth spokeswoman.
Mold problems were first reported in mid-September, and subsequent testing in both buildings, which were built in the 1980s, confirmed the presence of mold in other rooms in the two buildings on Oct. 7. Of the 17 air handlers tested, all had mold.In response to the mold discovery, the college plans to clean the interior surfaces of each HVAC unit in the two dorms with a high-efficiency particulate air vacuum.
Though the HVAC system in these two dorms is different from most other Dartmouth dorms, which rely on natural ventilation through windows, the college plans to inspect other residence halls for mold in the coming weeks and also to conduct regularly scheduled checks of air handling units in all college buildings.
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
