2008 Woodie Awards
Odor 'reeks' havoc on campus
Some offices forced to relocate due to strange smell in the MAT.
Kristin Draus
Issue date: 5/22/08 Section: News
Strange smells don't often force people out of buildings, but that's just what happened to some staff in the Mattress Factory building at University of Washington Tacoma.
Judy Colburn, manager and career counselor in the Career Development Center in MAT 106, first detected the unusual odor in late February.
"It smelled like gas, oil, petrochemical," Colburn said. "Similar to what you'd find in a mechanic or lube shop."
Colburn said the smell made her feel sick to her stomach, as well as causing her to experience breathing difficulties. Other people in the area experienced light headedness, although no one fainted.
"The way I would describe it is, any odor that is inappropriate for an academic space," Dave Leonard, the manager of offsite facilities at the UW Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Department, said. "It's definitely a nuisance odor, and it may make people feel funny when they're around it."
EH&S and UWT Facilities Services staff investigated the building's ventilation system that supplies air to the space affected, and they determined it was operating normally.
Because the odor was most noticeable in the MAT 106 office, the investigative team drilled a hole in the drywall above the affected space. The odor grew stronger and caused more adverse physical symptoms for Colburn.
By April 21, the staff in the Career Development Center and some offices on the second floor of the MAT building were relocated to various other locations on campus. "No one wishes anyone to be ill or be exposed to possibly unsafe levels of chemicals. There truly is a smell," Leonard said.
The MAT offices are now closed to ensure the safety of everyone until the investigation is complete. It has not yet been determined when the offices will be reopened.
"It's not going to be done in a week or two, and it honestly will probably be several months until the final conclusion," Leonard said.
After the office in MAT 106 was taken apart brick by brick, investigators discovered another addition to the malodorous mystery. When they detected an unusual odor in some brickwork around one window in the office, the team checked the outside of the building. They noticed the bricks in the area were also a slightly different color than the adjacent bricks, leading the investigative team to consider the mystery as a more localized problem.
Judy Colburn, manager and career counselor in the Career Development Center in MAT 106, first detected the unusual odor in late February.
"It smelled like gas, oil, petrochemical," Colburn said. "Similar to what you'd find in a mechanic or lube shop."
Colburn said the smell made her feel sick to her stomach, as well as causing her to experience breathing difficulties. Other people in the area experienced light headedness, although no one fainted.
"The way I would describe it is, any odor that is inappropriate for an academic space," Dave Leonard, the manager of offsite facilities at the UW Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Department, said. "It's definitely a nuisance odor, and it may make people feel funny when they're around it."
EH&S and UWT Facilities Services staff investigated the building's ventilation system that supplies air to the space affected, and they determined it was operating normally.
Because the odor was most noticeable in the MAT 106 office, the investigative team drilled a hole in the drywall above the affected space. The odor grew stronger and caused more adverse physical symptoms for Colburn.
By April 21, the staff in the Career Development Center and some offices on the second floor of the MAT building were relocated to various other locations on campus. "No one wishes anyone to be ill or be exposed to possibly unsafe levels of chemicals. There truly is a smell," Leonard said.
The MAT offices are now closed to ensure the safety of everyone until the investigation is complete. It has not yet been determined when the offices will be reopened.
"It's not going to be done in a week or two, and it honestly will probably be several months until the final conclusion," Leonard said.
After the office in MAT 106 was taken apart brick by brick, investigators discovered another addition to the malodorous mystery. When they detected an unusual odor in some brickwork around one window in the office, the team checked the outside of the building. They noticed the bricks in the area were also a slightly different color than the adjacent bricks, leading the investigative team to consider the mystery as a more localized problem.
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