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Ingraham safe after mold cleanup

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After weeks of investigation and the implementation of corrective measures, the mold problem affecting Ingraham Hall has been solved, officials said Thursday. University of Wisconsin’s Environmental Health department has cleaned several of the mold-affected areas and ran an air sample test, finding Ingraham to be well under permissible limits of fungal exposure, according to environmental health specialist Erik Thompson. “As of today, we have sampled every office on the third floor and some on the second, first and ground floors,” Thompson said. “As of right now, every sample we have gotten back is clean.” According to Thompson, indoor air fungal levels should be equal to or less than outdoor levels. Even in previously affected areas of the third floor, fungal levels proved to be more than 94 percent lower than outdoor levels. Water samples have been taken to the State Hygiene Lab and results should be returned within the next two upcoming weeks, according to Keith Burdick, UW’s Environment, Health and Safety department assistant director. Cindy Statz, a budget and policy analyst with UW Physical Plant, said additional cleaning measures have also been taking place in the building. Carpets have been shampooed and air-handling utilities have been cleaned, she said. Not all problems have been solved though, as Denise Wiyaka, associate director for UW American Indian studies, said certain rooms still smell bad. “I’m almost certain that it has to be the air conditioning because there wasn’t anything else in the room. The furniture is all gone. The carpet is done. It has to be the air conditioner,” Wiyaka said. Burdick said the smell is unrelated to the mold and might be coming from recently installed heating units, which are stored with metal working oil. “When you install it and turn the heat on, these things get really hot. That’s when the oil burns off,” Burdick said. “I think that’s what those odors are.” According to Burdick, the odor should be gone in a few days. Thompson added sometimes building occupants leave their windows closed, preventing the smell from leaving the room. “If you don’t have a lot of air moving, it takes a long time for that air to dissipate and the smell hits you,” Thompson said. Thompson added there are several old buildings around campus and figuring out where problems like mold originate is sometimes challenging. From now on, he said, other incidents in Ingraham will be handled on an individual complaint basis. “If an individual has something that they’re not feeling comfortable with, we have to do some kind of investigation,” Thompson said. UW Center for Jewish Studies administrator Anita Lightfoot, who works in the third floor of Ingraham Hall, said though late, the department’s actions were commendable. “I think their concern and willingness to change things has been impressive,” Lightfoot said.