Even though summer classes ended last week, the smell of chemicals still hangs in the air days later at the Auraria Science Building.
The nearly 30-year-old building is in dire need of remodeling to improve the systems that bring in clean air and whisk out fumes from chemicals such as hydrochloric acid and paint thinner.
While administrators say the building meets Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards, they warn pregnant and lactating women to avoid the labs and concede that the chemical fumes are destroying computers in the building.
“We’re pushing the envelope,” said Dean Wolf, executive vice president at the Auraria Higher Education Center. “But if I was told it was unsafe, I would close it down. I won’t argue.”
Also, the science labs are overcrowded. Labs designed for 16 students hold 24, and there is not enough counter space or ventilation hoods to allow all the students to do experiments at once.
As with many other structures on campuses across the state, Auraria administrators have had to put off maintenance on the science building because of several years of budget cuts. There is an estimated $18 million in deferred maintenance needs just around Auraria alone, said Cathy Lucas, spokeswoman for Metropolitan State College of Denver, one of the three schools that share the downtown campus.
While other big campuses have struggled to keep up maintenance, they have not had similar ventilation problems or advised pregnant women to steer clear of buildings.
“There are problems that crop up from time to time, but they’re addressed as fast as humanly possible,” said Pauline Hale, a spokeswoman at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Earlie Thomas, director of environmental health at Colorado State University, said the campus has plenty of fume hoods for all the students and the hoods are tested twice a year to make sure they evacuate chemical fumes.
But things are a little more critical at the Auraria Science Building.
“It meets OSHA standards, but (pregnant women) might not want to take the risk,” said Charles Tindall, chairman of the Metro State chemistry department.
Debe Bell, lab coordinator and adjunct professor, said she usually recommends that pregnant women stay out of the labs whether the ventilation is good or bad.
But that is a precaution not recognized by federal agencies. OSHA does not have specific standards that bar pregnant women from labs.
“There are no standards,” said Herb Gibson, director of the OSHA Denver area office, who added that OSHA does not have jurisdiction over state-owned buildings. “Each individual has to determine with a physician what type of risk they’re exposed to.”
Bell said she knows there is a problem at the Auraria Science Building and another lab building on campus because the fumes destroy the computers and electronic equipment within a year or two.
The computers are “in there all the time,” she said.
Administrators are looking at near-term and long-term solutions.
It will cost about $1 million for replacement ventilation machines that will push more fresh air into the two lab buildings. But the real solution is a $35 million renovation and expansion of the science building.
The problem is there’s no money. The Colorado Community College System has agreed to dedicate $1.07 to maintenance for every credit hour that students take, but that doesn’t mean all the money will go to Auraria or its science building. CU-Denver and Metro State, the other two schools that share the campus, are looking at similar solutions or using money from a possible refinancing of the administration building.
“Of course, any health or safety issues are going to be a concern,” Lucas said.
Staff writer Arthur Kane can be reached at 303-820-1626 or akane@denverpost.com.
