—The Daily Collegian Friday, May 11, 1979 'Faulty construction' source of complaints By LARRY GALLONE and MIKE SILLUP Daily Collegian Staff Writers Minor construction errors are the cause of complaints from Beaver Terrace residents, Centre Rb.gion code enforcement officers said. Cracks in the ceilings and unlevel floors in some apartments are probably due to an error made by the contractor during construction, Code En forcement officer Harry Burd said. "An error was made down below, and it carried up all the way," he said. Several apartments with 01 and 02 as the last two digits in their addresses show a uniform difference of about one inch in the ceilings and floors. The cracks are in the same place on each floor. Burd said some of the cracks could be due to building settlement, "but there are no visible stress cracks." Asbestos being removed By DAVID VanHORN Daily Collegian Staff Writer Although slight traces of asbestos have been found in some University buildings such as Hamilton Hall, the major hazard in White Building is being removed. The ceiling in a White Building tunnel between the locker room and the universal gym was found to contain 80 to 90 percent asbestos, a substance con nected with various forms of lung cancer. University personnel under the direction of Safety Services Manager Howard Triebold Jr. have been working since Monday on sealing the corridor and removing the material. As of yesterday, Triebold said a third of the, material had been removed, packaged and sealed. One person is spraying the wetting agent on the, ceiling, he said, while another is scraping the material off after allowing the agent to soak into the asbestos-laden material. "The job is proceeding very nicely," he said. Triebold said the two men working on the job are wearing protective garb-over their coveralls, respirators, caps and booties. The outer clothing is changed when necessary, often more than once per day, he said. Filters in the respirators are changed daily, ac cording to Triebold. He said a clean room is provided so the workers can take off their suits before they enter the room. Showers are also provided, he said. The tunnel is secured by barriers at both ends, Triebold said,' and ap propriate warning signs are posted. -• He said he expects the material to be completely removed by sometime next week. A visual inspection will be done, he said, and "no places will be missed." The original plan was to replace the ee..,.,,41•.„5,f1fl JOIN US IN OUR LAST BASH WITH OUR GRADUATING SENIORS Party at A XI Saturday, May 12 10:00 til ? Ladies and Invited Guests Welcome JEFF BOWER OUR BEST CHOICE FOR CENTRE COUNTY! PENN STATE '69 REPUBLICAN PRIMARY - VOTE MAY 15th AUTHORIZED BY THE BOWER COMMITTEE Es owe NE ism esi moo selosma smisinsomaling sessausm lesmimem am mg einasimpli ( 4 ) Arbgat 8 coupons in this issue ow rm Is as am im Imo mu an me am ini no is in we No ow mom= we no or Nom es in 111 m iirblt ._.., 8 coupons in this issue I.i II EIIII.I-EII - Fill - ] - F-lIJI I II ii M Arm._, 8 coupons in this issue 11111.11111111.1111111111.1111.1111101111111 1111111 M MINIM lIIIIIIIIIMINIIIIIMIN MINCEIMMIIIUI Mil MO WA Flll I 1 m 1 Alto ...) 8 coupons in this issue asbestos ceiling with a mineral fiber tile ceiling, but the concrete slab ceiling may remain with no tile. "It may be that once we have the ceiling cleared, it will be left that way," he said. Triebold said the procedure could be used again if necessary, but there are some definite problems. Some dif ficulties could be encountered in shut ting off a corridor, and ceiling fixtures such as lights create obstacles. The process is also expensive, he said. In other University buildings, slight traces of asbestos have been found. Although Triebold said he has not received the results of ceiling material sent to the Bureau of Occupational Health in Harrisburg, he has been told by phone that Hamilton Hall contains trace amounts of asbestos. He said there is no evidence of flaking in Hamilton Hall, unlike White Building. The Daily Collegian sent two ceiling samples from Hamilton Hall and one from Thompson Hall to University Mineral Constitution Lab Director Norman Suhr for lab analysis. Suhr found all three samples, Hamilton South, first floor, Hamilton North, first floor and Thompson B-level, contain 1 to 10 percent chrysotile, - a common form of asbestos. The largest concentration is in Hamilton South, he said. Suhr said the predominant minerals in the material are gypsum, a derivative of plaster of paris, and clay. He said that the amount of asbestos is .not like that found in White Building, and that he expects the material is not flaking. Triebold said he has called constantly for. lab results, but has received nothing fiorn the Bureau of Occupational Health. He said he may go to Harrisburg next week to pick up the results, if necessary. After the results are received, COMMISSIONER with this coupon Roast Beef Sandwiches 2 for $1.90 Save $.60 Valid May 11 through May 13 111 Sowers St. Only with this coupon Roast Beef Sandwiches 2 for $1.90 Save $.60 Valid May 1 1 through May 13 1 1 1 Sowers St. Only with this coupon Roast Beef Sandwiches 2 for $1.90 Save $.60 Valid May 11 through May 13 111 Sowers St. Only with this coupon Roast Beef Sandwiches 2 for $1.90 Save $.60 Valid May 11 through May 13 11 1 Sowers St. Only The ceilings are made of dock planks, (long reinforced concrete slabs laid adjacent to each other), Burd said. They are supported by bearing walls made from highly pressurized brick, he ad ded. The error probably came when the dock planks were laid, Bob Nellis, code enforcement officer said. The dock planks were laid by a different company than the one that built the building, said Nellis, who was at the building site during construction. Margot Semple, vice president in charge of rentals for federated Home and Mortgage Co., owners of Beaver Terrace, said statements about structural problems in the building are "unqualified statements and hearsay." She said it is a pre-stressed concrete building and Triebold said University management will determine a course of action. "What we have to do is sit down with the management and put together a course of action," he said. Triebold said certain buildings may be given priority, but a plan to deal with asbestos will be formed for the whole University, not for each building. Triebold said he is confident some positive steps will be taken this summer to deal with asbestos. Phil Zullo, chief of industrial hygiene for the Bureau of Occupational Health, said the bureau received a total of 21 ceiling samples in two batches on two dates, Feb. 23 and March 6. The samples were not analyzed and results compiled until a few days ago due to the backlog of work caused by the Three Mile Island incident. The results will be sent to Triebold as soon as possible, he said. Zullo said most samples contained one to three percent asbestos. Two samples contained 2 to 4 percent asbestos, one sample contained 5 to 9 percent, and two samples contained .5 to 2 percent.. One sample had 24 percent, he said, and three contained no such substance. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, any concentration over 1 percent should be investigated, Zullo said. The EPA may establish a formula . to use in dealing with asbestos in relation to percent concentration and condition of the material. Friability and the condition of the surface are two factors to be considered, he said. Friability, the ability to crumble the material by hand, is proportional to the amount of asbestos. "The less friable it is, the less asbestos you will find in it," Zullo said. When sampling with a bottle, he said, if the bottle cannot permeate the sur face, there is a lower chance of asbestos. "A hard surface is probably not much of a problem and probably does not have Taco, Chili, & Chips $1.09 Dinner Special-3 Tamales—s2.l9 Sopapia Sunday Free Sopapia A Dessert with Purchase of Any Dinner . a 1 6- 4 ,-f r • FEBRos F S o . Garner rF as t Lunch St. 234- 4 725 Servic e, Quick Snack or Meal Anytime. V 131 re not made of individual blocks Drake Nicholas (11th-history) a resident in apartment 402, said he saw flakes falling from the area between the dock planks. Burd said the flakes were probably thin mortar falling due to vibrations from upper floors. Mitch Shahen (grad-pre-law), a resident of apartment 502 said he also noticed flaking. "It felt like someone was eating crackers in my bed and left the crumbs," he said. Nellis said the building was built on solid rock.. The contractor had to blast to pour the foundation, he said. Burd said if there was a crack due to settling it would be vis ible from the outside. "If there is a settling crack, I don't see it," he said. in White Building tunnel Jv - 11,7t:P1 w two YAal f:..v"i7V 1.0 These warning signs, posted on the tunnel connecting the tected asbestos a substance associated with cancer --/ men's locker room and the universal gym in White Build- from the area. Asbestos has also been detected in other; ing,, refer to work being done in removing recently-de- areas such as Hamilton Hall. k 1 much asbestos in it," Zullo said Hamilton Hall resident Mike Peters (6th-architecture) said he feelo better now that the facts are in, but is 'hot Ab solutely convinced the situation is okay. He said "white stuff" comes down from. the celing when someone punches it or 4 1 1 Y' 3•A"...-; ^ 1.. 44, 4.0 .' 4 i . .. , f,4 1 ~„.1.0, , ,t5 , .'.,, .::` , il ..,•',,,''' 4 Ilf:' J tl ,.k'' - k 'il EME PennPIRG leaders seek state official's support Jeff Goldsmith, coordinator for students for the Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group, said yesterday he will meet with Nat Goldhaber, the assistant to the Lt. Governor William Scranton, over term break for a possible endorsement for the PennPIRG project. "I hope to get an appointment with the governor and then get a similar en dorsement from him," Goldsmith said. The endorsement will lend credibility to the project and may help the University's Board of Trustees approve the project when the proposal is sub mitted to them in July, he said. "The purpose of PennPIRG is to help involve students in government. En dorsement by government officials , - , : 1 AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY • • • .17 someting is dropped from the floor above. `Uf+ you 'get -a hole punched in the soirfeilihig!s going to come out of it," Peters said. A dropped 'ceiling, he said, would be a good idea to protect the ceiling from should be encouraged," he said. If the board approves the proposal! Goldsmith said, the riew officers for PennPIRG will handle the transition from Students for PennPIRG to Penn. PIRG. . If the board turns the proposal down,, the organization will continue, he said. "We will find another way of gettird PennPIRG approved without a lawsuit and without the Board of Trustees," he said. "I don't see the first three efforts for PennPIRG as separate efforts. I see them as part of one major effort." “I guarantee the PennPIRG effort will not end until PennPIRG is establishe*,” he said. i. ~ ' 4;pe being punched and protect residents frpm fa fibers. Health Education Professor'Maine Young said she was reassured Ipy the reuslts, although it took a long time to -by Amy Smith 1!IE=11 ..„ f A
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