AB III Abated of Mold, Asbestos

The Houstonian (Dec. 14) reports on the cleanup at Academic Building III that occurred recently:

Academic Building III underwent mold and asbestos abating over Thanksgiving break after the toxins were discovered in October. Although the building was deemed safe for occupancy, the School of Nursing has opted to hold classes in the Lowman Student Center as a result.

Complaints of mold in October prompted the university to conduct air quality tests in the building, according to university spokesperson Julia May, Tests found four areas with potentially harmful levels of mold. Removing the mold also required removing the unrelated asbestos from the inside of the walls.

“The 4 locations that exceeded the accepted IAQ standards were spaces that are not normally occupied,” May said. “Two samples from record storage rooms, one from a laundry room and one sample from a mechanical room [were found]. In addition, the experts that conducted the IAQ survey stated that they did observe mold spores in areas that possibly included asbestos containing material.”

May said Texas state law requires they took care of the asbestos before they cleaned the mold. Asbestos is only dangerous when agitated and airborne but not when it’s dormant inside a wall. Exposure can lead to mesothelioma.

Sam Houston State University has received multiple complaints in years past and has performed multiple indoor air quality tests.

While the building is now mold free, the SHSU School of Nursing decided to move classes from AB III to the Lowman Student Center for the remainder of the fall 2014 and spring 2015 semesters....