Members of a HazMat team enter the Ivan Hilton Science Building on the New Mexico Highlands University campus on Sept. 3 following a report of a chemical spill.
A lab at New Mexico Highlands University's Ivan Hilton Science and Technology Building contained these bottles, said Michael Remke, assistant professor at the school. These bottles include acids, bases and flammables all stored in the same cabinet. Safety Cabinet Class 2
'The acids and fumes from the acids are corroding the metal in the cabinet,' Remke said in an email to The Optic.
A lab at New Mexico Highlands University's Ivan Hilton Science and Technology Building contained these bottles, said Michael Remke, assistant professor at the school. These bottles include acids, bases and flammables all stored in the same cabinet.
'The acids and fumes from the acids are corroding the metal in the cabinet,' Remke said in an email to The Optic.
Members of a HazMat team enter the Ivan Hilton Science Building on the New Mexico Highlands University campus on Sept. 3 following a report of a chemical spill.
Concerns about chemicals inside a New Mexico Highlands University science building have heightened following news of the death of a custodian who worked at the facility.
Kathy Jenkins, president of the NMHU Faculty Association and professor of exercise physiology at the university, said in an interview with The Optic on Sept. 21 that the custodian, Martin Lujan, worked at Ivan Hilton Science and Technology Building.
Ivan Hilton was closed by the city of Las Vegas on Sept. 3 after campus police responded to an initial report of a chemical spill at the building. According to a press release provided by the university on Tuesday, Ivan Hilton was closed on Sept. 3 “as a result of issues with the storage and maintenance of chemicals … and it currently remains closed.”
Lujan passed away on Sept. 14.
“The Faculty and Staff Association, first and foremost, wants to send our prayers and condolences to the family and friends of Marty Lujan,” Jenkins said. “He was an integral member of our Highlands family.”
“We’re very saddened that the university hasn’t made an announcement about his death,” Jenkins said.
NMHU made a formal announcement of Lujan’s death on Monday, the same day a memorial – organized by members of the school’s staff and faculty – took place on the university’s campus across from Ivan Hilton.
“Though I did not know (Lujan), I have heard many endearing stories about him from both his family and his coworkers,” NMHU President Neil Woolf said via a press release shared on Monday to the school’s community. “I know that (Lujan) will be dearly missed.”
On Tuesday, during an in-person interview with The Optic, Woolf said that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is conducting an investigation into what may have happened to Lujan.
“I don’t know the specifics,” Woolf said. “We’ll let the investigation unfold so we know the facts.”
Woolf said that all of the chemicals at Ivan Hilton have been contained. According to the press release, NMHU is “awaiting air quality testing and approval from state and local authorities before (reopening) the building.”
The press release from the university sent out on Monday states that the issues at Ivan Hilton began when the NMHU Facilities Department received a complaint of a strong chemical smell in Ivan Hilton on July 16.
“The smell was coming from biology specimens and Carosafe (used to preserve the specimens) in a walk-in cooler,” the press release states. “A biology faculty member removed the material with help from Facilities. After the specimens and chemicals were removed, two custodians were assigned to mop the inside of the cooler to complete the cleaning, the press release states.
“They began the work, but stopped shortly thereafter due to the strength of the smell,” the press release states. “NMHU then contracted an abatement company from Albuquerque to clean the walk-in cooler, and the cooler was taped off and access was prohibited.”
Although it is not confirmed what caused Lujan’s death, Jenkins said she was summoned to a meeting on Sept. 18 with upper-level NMHU staff and a fatality investigator from OSHA.
“OSHA has a fatality investigation,” Jenkins said. “They also said other investigations are taking place as well.”
Jenkins said NMHU faculty have requested New Mexico OSHA to keep them informed of the results of the investigations.
“People have the right to know” about the situation at Ivan Hilton, Jenkins said, adding that it is “the responsibility of the university to care for the health and safety of students, faculty, staff and obviously, members of the community.”
Jenkins said several faculty members who worked at Ivan Hilton have become sick with symptoms such as confusion, nausea and vomiting blood. She urged those who spent time inside the building and who believe they might be sick to see a doctor.
“They should go to the doctor, especially one trained in occupational medicine,” Jenkins said.
Assistant Professor Michael Remke, who teaches courses in forestry and natural resources, said he became ill after working at Ivan Hilton.
“I was going home sick with headaches, with respiratory distress and irritation after smelling fumes while sitting and working in my office,” Remke said on Sept. 19. He said that on Aug. 12 he made a complaint with human resources, filed a formal worker’s compensation claim and filed a claim with the school’s Environmental Health and Safety Office about the symptoms he was having.
Remke said his complaints were not addressed directly; however, a cold room at Ivan Hilton was taped off.
This cold room – a type of walk-in refrigerator on Ivan Hilton’s first floor – was being used to store chemicals, Remke said. He said it is not typical to store chemicals in a cold room and that such a space is more often used to store specimens and samples.
“I’m suspicious that … some of those chemicals were leaking, they were fuming, and the result was, as the cold room broke and heated up the fumes got really bad,” he said. “The fumes were seeping out of that environment (and) into the hallway on the first floor where they were impacting me in my office.”
Jenkins said she has received a list of chemicals that were found at Ivan Hilton. In an email to officials with AFT New Mexico, a union representing educators, as well as officials with National Education Association New Mexico, Jenkins said some of these chemicals include nitrobenzene, picric acid, radioactive thorium, cyanide and uncontained mercury.
Remke said when he was hired by the university last year, he inherited a research lab at Ivan Hilton where several chemicals were being stored. When asked for help removing the chemicals, he said, he was met with indifference.
“I have a list of chemicals that I personally inventoried and verified in one room,” Remke said. He added that he has another list of chemicals that he was told was created before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“On that list there are several hundred chemicals,” Remke said. “There are many chemicals that are bad toxins, carcinogens.”
One of these toxic chemicals is benzene, which is a known carcinogen.
“It’s inaccessible,” Remke said of benzene. “You have to get permission to use it, you have to have a specific reason for why you’re using it. But that’s been stored in one of the teaching laboratories where students are using the lab space.”
Remke said he also noted liters to gallons of formaldehyde – also a known carcinogen – at Ivan Hilton.
“Historically, formaldehyde was a standard material for fixing and preserving biological specimens,” Remke explained. “Now, people generally use a name brand substance called Carosafe, which is specifically designed to limit exposure to formaldehyde.”
Remke said he believes many of these chemicals were purchased and used many years ago. Then lab space was used to improperly store the chemicals long term.
“We need our labs to be inspected, and we need budgets to support the proper disposal of chemicals,” Remke said. “We need institutionalized policies and procedures to enforce and hold people accountable.”
Remke said he knew Lujan and extended his condolences to his loved ones.
“I was friends with (Lujan), I saw him almost every day I came to work at the university,” Remke said. “He was just a really kind, loving human. I feel absolutely awful about his loss, regardless of what the cause of death is.”
“That is a tragic loss for our Highlands community.”
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