'Grotesque smell': Aurora College students speak out about heating issues in building
Delaney Taylor is a first-year student who says when the heat was turned off at Aurora College's Yellowknife campus on Monday, students were wearing jackets indoors and rubbing their hands together to stay warm.
That morning, students received an email from the school alerting them that one of the pumps in the building was leaking and the heat had to be shut off.
Taylor said this isn't the first time there have been heating issues in the building.
"I bring my slippers to school every day, so that my feet are warmer. And I bring a little blanket with me, which I just kind of figured was because I was cold until I found out that other people were doing it too."
When Taylor told her mother, Tara Marchiori, how cold it was in the building that day — she was outraged.
"There's no heat in the building, I mean it's -36 C and they didn't send anyone home. Which seems like a misstep to me," Marchiori said.
Lynn Morris Jamieson, the vice president of student affairs at the college, said the school found out about the heat problem around 8 a.m. Monday morning, and sent the email out right away before shutting the heat off around 9 a.m.
"We monitored the situation and made sure at no time did the heat in the building get below a level that was comfortable for people," Jamieson said.
She said the temperature in the building never dropped below 17 C, and the heat was back on before noon.
Along with Aurora College, Northern United Place also includes a church, an auditorium, and apartment units for students, families and the elderly.
Glycol problem lingering for 5 years
There was something else in Monday's email from the college that concerned Marchiori.
Students and staff were also told they may smell glycol in the lobby and elevators because of issues with the heating system.
Donovan Erutse, a first-year student at the school, said students get almost weekly emails about glycol smells, which he compared to the smell of strong cleaning chemicals.
"It's sort of like this revolting, grotesque smell. It makes you want to leave the area."
Erutsi said students received another email about glycol smells in the building's main staircase on Tuesday afternoon.
Gail Leonardis, executive director for the N.W.T. Community Services Corporation — which owns and manages Aurora College's building, Northern United Place — says the type of glycol used in the heating system is called propylene glycol.
She said it's added to the heating lines to stop them from freezing. It's also used as an additive in some foods, cosmetic products and pharmaceutical items. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies propylene glycol as an additive that is "generally recognized as safe" for use in food.
This isn't the only time students at Aurora College's Yellowknife's campus have been warned about the potential smell or leak of glycol in the building.
Marchiori asked her daughter to screen-shot all of the correspondence from the school that mentioned glycol. There are at least 20 emails that mention several different incidents related to glycol smells and leaks, dating back to October 2019.
Jamieson said the school has been dealing with glycol leaks and smells for around five years. She said the school has been working with the N.W.T. Community Services Corporation as well as the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission and the territorial government to work on a resolution.
"We've worked on a case-by-case basis," Jamieson said. "Every time we've had an issue we've dealt with it with our emergency response plan."
'Crumbling Infrastructure'
Leonardis said it's rare for the heating system to leak glycol, and the majority of the warnings sent to students are about the odour released by the glycol when it's heated.
"They're not being exposed at all to any of the heating fluids or the glycol," Leonardis said.
Marchiori said her daughter generally has great experiences at the school, but worries building maintenance issues might affect her education.
"What they're dealing with ... is this sort of crumbling infrastructure that does not allow for what I would consider is like a normal academic experience."
As for her daughter, Taylor said she hopes the building can become a more comfortable learning environment.
"I think that it's unfair that we have to sacrifice having good resources and proper heating and a scent-free area just because we want to stay in the North."
