According to campus services, the mysterious steam seen on campus is not harmful to Simpson students.

“The reason for the steam is that many pipes rust and can corrode over time,” said Bart Lane, campus service director. “This is why you see the steam.”

The college has a central heating plant, which means that there are pipes running underground all throughout campus bringing heat to many buildings.

This heating system has been around for many years and sometimes needs to be repaired. Some parts of the system are 25 to 30 years old.

As new buildings were added to campus, new sections of the heating system were added too. The steam is released through the cracks in the pipes.

There is no way to predict when or where the next steam leak will happen.

“If one of the pipes begins to leak steam we either replace it or repair it,” said Lane. “It would be completely impractical to replace the whole (central heating) system.”