USD law school trying to clear stench

At a glance

• An odor that smells like rotting onions has been a problem this school year in the University of South Dakota's School of Law building
• Propylene glycol in the building's coolant system is leaking out of underground pipes outside the building, traveling in groundwater to the building's sump hole and causing the smell
• Once the school year ends in two weeks, USD officials will spend between $50,000 and $100,000 to replace the leaking pipes and solve the problem

It began with an odd smell late last summer, a nauseating aroma of rotting onions.

In the library in particular, but in areas throughout the University of South Dakota School of Law building as well, it became an aggravating, irritating distraction for faculty and students alike, especially on balmy days last fall.

And with warm days this spring, the stench is returning again.

University officials think they know what's causing it — a propylene glycol-based fluid used in a coolant system that is leaking from pipes underground on the north and west sides of the building and releasing an odor as it degrades and is carried by groundwater into a sump hole.

The good news is, replacing the leaking pipes should resolve the problem, USD spokeswoman Tena Haraldson said. The bad news? That work can't be done, she said, until the school year wraps up in a little more than two weeks, and the building empties out.

"We've got to hold out for two weeks," Tom Geu, dean of the law school, said. "Every day it doesn't smell is a good day because we move one day closer to taking care of it."

The worst of the smell was in the fall, Geu and Haraldson said, when the weather warmed or a dramatic temperature swing occurred. Then, Geu said, "the odor could be particularly strong."

When winter came and the ground froze, it minimized the smell, Haraldson said. But with the spring thaw and the snow melt, she said, "it's stinking again."

The odor is usually strongest in the basement and the first floor of the library, while the classrooms seem less affected, Haraldson said. During one week last fall when the smell was particularly bad, a staff member with an office near the library had to be moved, Geu said. She has since returned.

While Geu doesn't believe the problem is so bad that faculty or students are thinking of leaving and going somewhere else, there is no question that it's been an irritant.

"We've certainly had employees who complained about the smell," Haraldson said. "We've had people who work in the area who say the smell makes them nauseous. It is not in fact causing them physical illness. When removed from the smell, they feel better."

Additional sewer gas smells

Unfortunately for the law school, the coolant leak hasn't been the only problem this year. There have been a number of occasions when there have been sewer gas smells in parts of the building, Haraldson said.

Though air quality tests have not found any toxic readings or any substance that might cause health problems, Haraldson said testing will be done once the school year ends to see if they can pinpoint where the sewer smells are occurring.

"I think what they do is put a smoke product into the pipes venting out the roof of the building to see if there are any holes or cracks," she said. "It's a nuisance. It doesn't happen all the time. And it just seems to be coincidental with the stronger smell coming from the glycol leak."

As if that wasn't enough, there is also an issue of insect larvae that showed up near the drain on a second floor drinking fountain about six weeks ago. Haraldson said her discussions with facilities people at USD point to people pouring sodas or sugared liquids down the fountain drain.

"Apparently, they were using this drinking fountain like a sink," she said. "They're pouring leftover pop and fruit juice that had sugar in it, and that will attract these fruit fly insects, and they will lay their eggs in it and die."

They closed the fountain down for a short time, routinely sanitized it with a bleach, and the issue resolved itself, she said.

Not helpful for recruitment efforts

It's important that the rotten onion smell gets resolved soon, too, Geu said. Prospective students have been visiting the law school. They are trying to recruit new faculty members as well.

"I did fear that," he said of those students or faculty members experiencing the bad odor and then deciding not to come to USD. "It certainly wouldn't make for a good first impression."

Haraldson said they have tried to address the stench with odor sponges, charcoal filters and fans to blow the smell away from the building. Last fall they dug several holes, put grates over the top and placed barrels inside them to catch some of the groundwater before it got into the sump hole.

When the last students leave for the summer in about two weeks, school officials estimate it will cost between $50,000 and $100,000 to dig up the coolant pipes under the ground and replace those with leaks in them, Haraldson said. That presumably will cover the costs of testing for the sewer smells as well.

"I'm sure being around an odor like this has been very unpleasant," she said of the ongoing problem. "I'm sure it wasn't the ideal working situation for them.

"But we've been proactive in finding out, number one, what was causing it and, number two, how to mitigate and get rid of it. I'm confident that the obvious problems are going to be corrected."