More than a dozen people were sent to area hospitals and around 150 people were evacuated from the 11th floor. David Bott works in the building. He says there was an announcement about the problem—but people stayed calm.
“We do a lot of emergency drills and things at this building so we’re pretty well informed about how to handle these kinds of situations—so everyone was keeping calm.”
The problem was some liquid saturated papers. Haz Mat teams did some tests—but couldn’t identify the substance. BreAnda Northcutt with Cal EPA says it was a routine report sent from a hazardous waste facility.
“We’re not sure why the paperwork came in and was wet and had a foul odor but we don’t expect there was any criminal intent with this situation…”
The evacuation took place just before the lunch hour. All the workers sent to the hospital were reported in good condition— and were released.