On-campus construction is more than noise and classroom distraction. It can also cause health concerns for the campus community.
Currently, about half of the roof at the Drake Performance and Event Center is being replaced. One of the material’s used in the construction is coal tar pitch, a thick black liquid that can produce strong odorous fumes.
Some of the components of coal tar pitch can be hazardous, said David Kos, university industrial hygienist.
“It is primarily an irritant to the eyes, ears and throat and upper respiratory tract,” Kos said. “Anybody who’s (has) a respiratory problem or a circulatory problem and has been bothered by those irritating chemicals are certainly at risk.”
“I have definitely felt short of breath,” said Stephanie Spiker, a junior in theater who has asthma and classes in Drake twice a week.
Spiker also said she has gotten headaches and felt light-headed while attending class during the construction.
Thomas Postlewait, professor of theater who teaches Spiker’s class in Drake, said none of his students had made complaints to him about the fumes.
“The health of the students is primary,” he said. “If there was any signal that this was actually causing health problems, first off on that day I would excuse that student or all the students and then immediately go after the problem.”
“I haven’t felt the fumes have been over the line,” he said adding that because might not notice because he does not have asthma.
Kos said workers can get used to the fumes and, because they work outside, they can move around and winds can blow fumes away.
“Once it’s picked up from the air intake, it goes into different parts of the building,” he said. “Those people can’t move from there. They’re there until they’re done with class or done with their class at the end of the day.”
Brian Rowley, project manager for the Drake construction, said that air intake is on the other side of the building from the kettle – the machine that heats the coal tar pitch so it can be used for roofing.
Rowley said that the wind could cause the fumes to be taken into the air intake.
“I’d try to do the best I can to keep the fumes from getting into the building,” he said. “We have a fume recovery system over the coal tar kettle over at the Drake Union. It cuts down on the fumes.”
Kos said, contractors can cut down on fumes by operating the equipment that heats the coal tar at an appropriate temperature or adding specific chemicals to reduce the fumes.
Rowley said he follows the manufacturer’s recommendations for heating and preparing the coal tar pitch.
“It (is) really distracting to me to be in class because (the smell) is putrid,” Spiker said.
When asked if he would have liked to have been informed of the construction prior to its beginning, Postlewait said communication is helpful but that that he was unaware if the message was simply not relayed to him.
Kos said that building coordinators, whose jobs, according to Ohio State’s Web site, are to coordinate building maintenance and services, attend construction meetings and inform building occupants of building construction.
Kristin Saurber, building coordinator for Drake, said she was unaware of any construction complaints.
When asked what people should do if they felt they were being exposed to hazardous fumes, Kos said: “They probably should contact their professor and see what kind of arrangements they can make so they wouldn’t have to be exposed to those chemicals while in the classroom,” Kos said.
