University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown dorm tested positive for mold

Cambria County, PA — Some students at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown have been temporarily moved from dorms to alternative housing.

Before the semester started, the university said it had routine mold tests performed on buildings. The Living-Learning Center, where around 25 students live, tested positive for mold, according to the Pitt Johnstown director of communications.

"Once we detected the mold we did a thorough cleaning. We hired Servpro, which is a local company, to do some significant cleaning in the building," said Eric Sloss, director of communications and public relations at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.

The building was deemed safe after cleaning and students moved into the dorm for the school year. But in early October, students said they found mold. Sloss said the dorm was then tested again for air quality and the results posed a concern -- and that the heavy rain in the past months may have contributed to the problem.

Students were then temporarily moved to the Quality Inn Hotel in Johnstown or other dorms on campus. Sloss said students received a $1,000 rebate on housing costs and extra money for food.

Hickory Hall, a freshman dorm, is one of the dorms students have been temporarily moved to.

"A bunch of people kind of just showed up at our hall and they obviously weren't freshman. They got moved out from the LLC into our building and they moved into the triple rooms at the end of each hallway and just kind of filled up the empty space," said Angelo Ricchiuto, a UPJ Student living in Hickory Hall.

The Living-Learning Center has 16 dorms and Sloss said two of them are currently clean and ready for students to move back into. The university hopes the remaining 14 rooms will be ready for students next week.

Sloss said this is the only dorm on campus that has tested positive for mold.

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