Rose garden spray causes scare
By: Elise Prete
Issue date: 9/25/09 Section: News
Those walking on Furman's campus expect to appreciate the scenery: the trees, the shaded paths…the toxic flowers? When the Dining Hall briefly closed on the morning of Sept. 11 to the tune of alarming emails and text messages, speculation ranged broadly as to the cause. Confusion ensued with the answer: the roses.
Director of Facilities Rick Schosky said that the grounds crew had been doing a "standard spraying" of an insecticide and fungicide on the roses near the front of the DH. At least one of the three chemicals sprayed, proven successful in other areas of campus, reacted poorly to the early morning air near the air conditioning system.
This phenomenon is called inversion, when the air temperature and humidity levels at a certain altitude create an environment that doesn't allow gases to escape into the atmosphere. Examples include both fog and smog in cities. Near the DH, however, the odor of the chemicals remained, only to be pulled into the nearby air intake.
The first people to notice the odor were workers in the DH. Public Safety Director Robert Miller stated that "four [cafeteria employees] started having respiratory problems and nausea" as a result of breathing in the chemical fumes. The Greenville County Emergency Medical Services (GCEMS) and Fire Department were alerted and brought all four to the hospital. All were released at different points later that day.
Worried students can rest assured: the DH, and the area including the Rose Garden, remained closed until the GCEMS aired out the building and deemed the vicinity safe. Also, Schosky described the occurrence as an isolated "freak accident" and said that the harmful chemical will not be used again.
In keeping with the "green" atmosphere at Furman, Schosky said "The grounds department is looking into using 100% organic sprays for the rose gardens."
Director of Facilities Rick Schosky said that the grounds crew had been doing a "standard spraying" of an insecticide and fungicide on the roses near the front of the DH. At least one of the three chemicals sprayed, proven successful in other areas of campus, reacted poorly to the early morning air near the air conditioning system.
This phenomenon is called inversion, when the air temperature and humidity levels at a certain altitude create an environment that doesn't allow gases to escape into the atmosphere. Examples include both fog and smog in cities. Near the DH, however, the odor of the chemicals remained, only to be pulled into the nearby air intake.
The first people to notice the odor were workers in the DH. Public Safety Director Robert Miller stated that "four [cafeteria employees] started having respiratory problems and nausea" as a result of breathing in the chemical fumes. The Greenville County Emergency Medical Services (GCEMS) and Fire Department were alerted and brought all four to the hospital. All were released at different points later that day.
Worried students can rest assured: the DH, and the area including the Rose Garden, remained closed until the GCEMS aired out the building and deemed the vicinity safe. Also, Schosky described the occurrence as an isolated "freak accident" and said that the harmful chemical will not be used again.
In keeping with the "green" atmosphere at Furman, Schosky said "The grounds department is looking into using 100% organic sprays for the rose gardens."