Chemical spill at Galt company sends 12 to local hospitals

Oct. 03--GALT -- Twelve employees were transported by ambulances to local hospitals Friday morning after coming into contact with an unknown hazardous chemical. The incident happened inside the Cal-Waste Recovery Systems material recycling facility in the Galt Industrial Park.

Even after a hazardous materials investigative team from Sacramento City Fire Department went inside the business Friday afternoon, it was undetermined what caused the odor, and emergency personnel cleared the building for reopening, Cosumnes Fire Protection Battalion Chief Chris Hubbard said.

The incident began around 6:30 a.m. at the commercial business on Enterprise Court.

The entire building in the city's industrial area was evacuated and 15 workers were treated outside the building for ailments such as headaches, difficulty breathing, irritated and watery eyes, and dizziness due to the fumes, according to fire officials.

Of those, 12 were taken by ambulance for further evaluation, Hubbard said.

"No one was serious enough to keep for further observation," he said, adding that they were all released from the various hospitals by mid-day.

The incident started when two hours into their morning shift, sorters smelled an odor coming from the main conveyer belt inside the materials recycling facility. When they could not determine its source, they called 911 and immediately evacuated the area, Cal-Waste spokeswoman MaryBeth Ospital said.

When the fire department arrived on scene, they evacuated the entire building, including the administrative office and other businesses. They remained on scene for about two hours, according to Ospital.

Employees were allowed back into all areas except the materials recycling facility around 8:30 a.m., although business at Cal-Waste did not resume. Sorters were expected to restart their shift at 4 a.m. today.

Hubbard said he was unaware of any previous hazardous materials calls to the building since it opened two years ago.?

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