Prompted by student concerns, an inspection of a couple of living facilities at Fort Hays State University revealed the presence of mold.

According to the school, a team of industrial hygienists from Wichita-based iSi Environmental returned to the FHSU campus on Monday, Feb. 12, to conduct a follow-up inspection of McMindes Hall and Victor E. Village, two campus residence halls that have been the subject of student concerns regarding the possible presence of mold.

iSi conducted a more extensive inspection of a random selection of student rooms and inspections of rooms that were either identified explicitly by students or identified in iSi’s first inspection.

iSi identified possible mold in the interior insulation of two through-the-wall heating and cooling units in McMindes Hall. Surface samples of suspected mold were sent overnight to a testing laboratory, and late Thursday afternoon, iSi confirmed the presence of two forms of allergen-producing mold in those samples.

In response to learning this new information, and based upon the recommendation of iSi partners, the university has secured the services of Restore and Clean, a bonded, insured, and Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certified commercial and residential cleaning and restoration company.

As a precautionary measure, beginning Monday, Feb. 19, Restore and Clean teams will open every through-the-wall heating and air conditioning unit in McMindes Hall, replace the unit’s interior insulation, and complete a thorough vacuuming and deep cleaning of each unit, whether or not there is visible mold in the unit. They will also clean surface areas and overhead pipes in every room. Each room will be prepped to ensure the containment of airborne particulate, and disposable materials used in the remediation will be carefully bagged and removed.

Once this remediation work is complete in McMindes Hall, the Restore and Clean team will move on to Victor E. Village. We expect this process to take approximately 60 days from start to finish.

This work will commence as soon as a schedule is finalized, and students will be informed 24-48 hours in advance of when the Restore and Clean team will be on their floor to complete their work. We estimate that students will be asked to stay out of their rooms for approximately four hours to permit the remediation teams to complete their work and remove any lingering chemical odors.

Based upon testing and data received from iSi to date, and Restore and Clean’s assessment of that information and development of a comprehensive remediation effort, FHSU has determined that it is not necessary for all students to immediately vacate the residence halls.

Any students with immediate concerns about their residence hall space are encouraged to submit a work order online at https://www.fhsu.edu/reslife/Forms/, and any student with a particular health concern may reach out to Residential Life at 785-628-4245.