Sewage, swamp gas, garbage, animal feces and rotten eggs are the various smells faculty, staff and students in Rutledge said they have experienced occasionally for years. Recently, “the smell” has resurfaced and caught the attention of current students and faculty. “the smell” has been described as a “gas leak” due to a hissing noise paired with it, but there has been no evidence of an actual gas leak.
Design department chair Chad Dresbach has been teaching in Rutledge for about 24 years. Dresbach said “the smell” is inconsistent in how often it appears and in its strength of odor.
“There are days when you can only lightly smell it,” he said. “There are days “the smell” is so thick it nauseates people in classrooms separated by some distance.”
Dresbach said “the smell” does not seem to be associated with any particular weather conditions, season or time of day.
“It’s truly unpredictable when “the smell” appears, and why it’s sometimes strong or mild. So tracking this–from the point of view of facilities–is just especially tricky.”
Dresbach said each time the “rotten fruit and meat” smell has been reported, facilities followed-up on the call, but the timing of “the smell”, various descriptions of “the smell” and availability of facilities staff may have added more difficulty in identifying the source of “the smell”.
Facilities management project manager, Wes Love, and Director of Operations, Chris Rousseau, said they have received several calls in past years about ““the smell”” in Rutledge, but it has become difficult to pinpoint the source of “the smell”.
“This issue never seems to last for any long period of time. Recently, facilities has received three calls about ‘“the smell”.’ Facilities has responded each time and tried to identify the source. Recently, ““the smell”” has not been observed when facilities has been in the building,” they said.
When facilities is contacted about a suspicious smell, they send a technician to enter cavities, ceilings and other spaces throughout the building to try and identify a source. Once a source is identified, facilities will take necessary action and if there is not an identified source, they will follow up at a later time to make sure the building is safe.
On Sunday, March 24, Dresbach received an email from a freshman student who works as a lab monitor in the Rutledge Visual Resource Center about a “bad smell.” Dresbach said the student, who was less familiar with “the smell”, checked the hallways to search for “the smell”’s source before she emailed him.
The student’s concern rose after she stopped in front of two restrooms, a water fountain and a “hissing” air vent above them. It was the air vent’s hissing noise which caught her attention. “the smell” and the hissing sound caused the student to believe there was a possible gas leak in the building.
Dresbach, although familiar with “the smell”, said student safety was his primary concern and he told her to open the windows in the RVRC lab, call Winthrop police and evacuate the second floor of Rutledge. Dresbach also notified the dean of the situation.
After speaking with Winthrop police, the student was notified that there was no gas leak but they suggested students and faculty not to use the RVRC because of “the smell”.
Tuesday, March 26, “the smell” resurfaced around 6:30 p.m. while Dresbach was still working in Rutledge. He said “the smell” seems to be coming from a vent on the second floor right outside the two restrooms and water fountain where the student had noticed “the smell” two days earlier.
“If a gas leak were ever detected, the building would be evacuated and facilities would take the necessary precautions to solve the problem starting with shutting off the main gas supply to the building immediately,” they said.
“Once out of the vent, [“the smell”] permeates the second floor hallway and associated classroom space. And it’s… it’s disgusting, man. Smells like bad, egg farts,” Dresbach said.
Facilities management said they are not sure what is causing “the smell”, but they are sure it’s not a gas leak.
“If a gas leak were ever detected, the building would be evacuated and Facilities would take the necessary precautions to solve the problem starting with shutting off the main gas supply to the building immediately,” they said.
Now that Facilities has established “the smell” is not the result of a gas leak, Dresbach said his biggest concern is how “the smell” will reflect on the university for prospective students and their families.
“It’s unattractive; it reflects poorly on the institution. We have had students who have left the institution because of the state of facilities,” he said.
