GARDEN CITY- A pipe burst caused a massive flood on floors 2 through 9 of the tower at Nassau Community College, on January 4, as well as Clusters A through D and E through F. The discharge of water was so severe that all employees were sent home at 2:00pm that day. Floors 2 and 3 suffered the brunt of the damage, as those floors were shut down and employees were relocated. As of press time, the plan was to replace all carpeting on the 2nd floor, but wait for the environmental study to see if that was necessary for the 3rd floor.
CSEA Local 830 officials, led by President Jerry Laricchiuta worked closely with NCC Vice President of Administration Joe Muscarella, and Vice President of Human Resources Fred Downs to rectify this issue. Laricchiuta visited the college to witness the damage, and met with Muscarella, who agreed that any employee not on the 2nd or 3rd floor that was suffering any discomfort would certainly be allowed to temporarily relocate to another building on campus.
As of Thursday, January 7, the pipes were fixed, but fans were still going at full throttle to dry the wet carpets. After visiting the college, Laricchiuta said, “Our members seem to be dealing with this very reasonably. This is certainly a near catastrophic situation, but I applaud the administration for working with us on this to keep the employees safe, but also retain the functionality of the college.”
With the 3rd floor suffering the brunt of the damage, J.C. Broderick & Associates, Inc. was retained to perform a limited visual inspection and moisture sampling on that floor.
The inspection looked at building materials that were identified as being impacted by the flood, to see if there was any visible mold growth and to confirm that the materials have been effectively dried.
According to Edward McGuire of J.C. Broderick & Associates:
- No evidence of visible mold growth was observed on the gypsum wall boards impacted by the water loss event.
- No detectable concentrations of moisture were observed in the sampled gypsum wall boards.
- A test cut was made into the gypsum wall dividing Room 304 and the adjoining common space. No evidence of visible mold growth or residual moisture was observed.
CSEA Local 830 President Jerry Laricchiuta said, “We applaud Nassau Community College administration for their quick work in addressing this issue to assure the safest and healthiest work environment for our members.”