Southeast Missouri State’s Magill Hall evacuated due to sewage odor

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) — Magill Hall at Southeast Missouri State University was evacuated Tuesday after a strong odor from a sewage backup filled the building, prompting precautionary measures.

Fire crews and university officials responded to look into the situation, initially concerned about a potential gas leak. However, after testing, no gas leak was detected, and classes resumed.

“I think the fire department was here. We had a lot of players in to check out what the smell was,” said Floyd Davenport, Assistant Vice President of Information Technology at the university. “At that time, we were pretty sure it wasn’t a gas smell. We turned off the gas, they did some testing, and we kind of resolved that it was dissipating.”

Despite efforts to air out the building by opening doors and windows, the odor became worse when classes resumed, leading to a second evacuation. Crews later identified the source of the issue in the basement, where old, unused piping had caused the backup.

“We determined, working with Ameren and others, that we don’t have a safety issue, but we do have a smell issue,” Davenport said. “We did identify the source down in the basement. It does smell very bad.”

While cleanup efforts are underway, some classrooms will be relocated to other campus facilities. Despite the disruption, some students welcomed the unexpected break.

“It’s nice to have class off for the day,” said SEMO student Ben Braden. “I assume it’ll be a few days. It doesn’t really affect me too much.”

Classes are expected to continue as normal, with adjustments made as needed while crews work to resolve the issue.