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PAST ISSUES

     Chemical engineer Albina Redzepagic believes the methane pipes around the Franklin Pierce campus pose a danger to the residents of Lakeview due to poor design.

    Redzepagic, who has been working for the chemical engineering company Malcolm Pirnie for two years, looked at the methane pipes around Lakeview and believes that the design of the pipes will cause health problems for the students living in the area.

      According to Redzepagic, the pipes are inverted to exhaust down, which is bad. A better design is to have them exhaust straight up in the air and have the stacks much higher. That would bring the fumes closer to the mixing height and the gases will disperse in the ambient air and it would have a lower impact on students' health and make it more bearable to live there.

     According to Doug Lear, Director of Facilities, the pipes were designed prior to the Lakeview dormitories. "The design of the pipes is appropriate for that type of field," said Lear. Lear also stated that they are cleaned and pumped every two years, and that the longer straight pipes were designed to reduce the smell in Lakeview but that not all could exhaust straight up.

     Methane is a very combustible gas when there is 5 percent or more in the air. It is not poisonous but too much of it in a closed space can cause suffocation by reducing the concentration of oxygen inhaled.

     "The septic system down at Lakeview was designed by a professional civil engineer who used the presby maze system, which is more high tech than what the average homeowner would have installed," said Kenneth Ervin, Director of Residential Life. "In addition carbon filters were inserted in the exhaust pipes to reduce the smell."

     "The smell sometimes is unbearable," said Lissa Simon, a junior living at Lakeview. "I wonder sometimes if it's good that we are inhaling this. It doesn't seem to me that it could be good for us."

      According to Simon the towers also had unbearable smells at night and in the morning coming through windows of her apartment. Simon's roommates agree that the smells drifting through the windows would sometimes make it difficult to eat dinner in the evenings. 

     "There are couple of things you should be aware of," said Redzepagic "First, the quantity of the pipes indicates that there was methane migration especially if the student housing is so close by. The methane will migrate under the foundation and intrude into the homes through a few cracks. That is dangerous for the residents especially if there is no ventilation of the rooms where the methane is accumulating. If enough accumulated it can cause an explosion and also be poisoning gas. They put so many pipes into the ground to prevent the methane migration into the houses, but I doubt that they manage to do a 100 percent job."

     Redzepagic also believes that the methane could be used as natural fuel for the campus golf carts. "The school would be very interested looking into that," said Facilities Director Lear. Unlike the University of New Hampshire, that has a huge amount of methane available to fuel their heating in the buildings, Franklin Pierce has smaller quantities that might not be enough. Lear does not know the right percentage of methane; no study has been done at Lakeview yet. Lear suggests that the school could hire a professional engineer and look into it. 

Methane pipes next to the Lakeview housing. (Photo: Alma Bjelic)

  The only pipes facing up next to Lakeview 13. (Photo: Alma Bjelic)