Claflin responds to gas leak

The gas leak was discovered near the Claflin cafeteria. (Panther photo by Myah Burt)

A recent gas leak on the Claflin campus is “a wake-up call for all of us to do better,” an official said.

Eric Johnson, facility lead with the company Sodexo, spoke to Claflin residents from South and East dorms on Jan. 15, about a week after the gas leak. Sodexo manages facilities on the campus. 

South houses male students and East houses female students. The gas leak caused East to lose heat for a couple days and South to lose heat and water for up to two weeks. The two boilers in South had to be shut down.  

“With the boilers on, which supplies your heat and hot water, your safety is compromised,” Johnson said. “It sucks, especially when it's 27 degrees at night.” 

Dr. Leroy Durant, vice president for student development and services, also spoke to South and East residents at the meeting. He confirmed the gas leak had been found.

“We [initially] thought it was just the boiler that we have,” Durant said. “When the inspector came out, he found that gas was seeping, and CO2 was released into the building. It's not something you can see. It's not something you can smell.” 

Durant continued, “Gas is always under the ground, but we have to be very careful. That's why we shut down the campus on Monday. We were concerned about the level of gas that may be coming out from the ground.” 

He also noted that the location of the leak was in the street near the cafeteria.

Johnson detailed how the problem was first discovered. 

“The state inspector that came out, he just happened to be in [South’s] building, and that's where the monitor started to go off. That’s kind of how it all started,” Johnson said. 

About a day after the meeting, East got its heat back. A week later, students in South had heat and hot water.  

Kemauri Shyne Joseph, a sophomore South resident, expressed his excitement upon hearing the news.  

“I hadn't checked my phone until this morning, so this morning, I found out the good news and hopped in the shower. I had a great day today!” 

Joseph also shared how he was compensated without heat or hot water.  

“They got us heaters and shout out to Claflin for that because the heaters were really nice.

“I kind of cut them a little bit of slack. And it was a really big problem, so I'm glad they caught it now rather than later. And I hope they're not trying to put a band-aid on it, and they’re actually fixing it, so a situation like this doesn’t arrive later.” 

Joseph praised the residential staff for handling the situation.  

“They told us all they could. It was kind of out of their hands, but if I needed a heater, I got the heater. If I needed my door unlocked, I got the door unlocked. So they did their job.” 

Durant detailed how important it is that the situation was solved the right way. 

“In my position, I don't like this. This gave me too much stress because I'm playing with human beings in the residential hall, sleeping in the residential hall,” Durant said. “So my nights are very, what I call, short. Despite preventive measures, when you sit in a position that I sit in across this country, at any university, it’s always that fear.  

“My job is to protect your safety. Students deserve the best if they’re going to call a residential campus their home away from home. They deserve that. We will continue to do better,” Durant said.