After a sulfur smell was reported by an employee at the University's heating plant last Tuesday, the school arranged to donate $20,000 worth of coal from the plant's silo to the Dupont plant in Waynesboro, Va., to prevent a possible fire.
Carbon monoxide testing on the University's four silos confirmed the existence of overheated coals in one of them.
According to University Director of Utilities Cheryl Gomez, "the coals got warm and put off an acrid smell. It's not a very common occurrence, but it has happened at utility companies and other universities."
Recognizing the severity and possible dire outcome of the situation, representatives from the University's Facilities Management staff, Department of Environmental Health and Safety, the Charlottesville Fire Department and the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy immediately formed a committee to discuss possible courses of action.
The committee contacted the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill for advice on what to do with the silo. "UNC had a much worse problem [before], and was one of the best resources," Gomez said.
The University also consulted the Mine Safety Health Association in Pittsburgh, Penn., and several engineering companies for advice.
After gathering information and meeting for a few days, the committee decided to completely empty all of the coal from the 950-ton silo. Dupont will receive the coal after it has been removed.
"Dupont is the closest plant that has the facilities to receive the coal, plus they can burn this kind of coal," Gomez said.
"Dupont uses coal in a big volume and has a big enough facility to not store it in a silo," Director of University Relations Louise Dudley said.
The decision to donate the coal to Dupont also was financially motivated. "It would cost us more to build a containment plant," Gomez said.
Dupont will be responsible for transporting the coal from the University, Dudley said.
All of the coal will be removed no later than this Wednesday, Gomez said. After that, no further danger of a fire will exist.
The emptied silo will be refilled as soon as it passes all the inspections. "Once a year, the silos are completely unloaded in the summer. It was a fluke that [this] occurred, a really rare event," Gomez said.
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