CalEPA employees report mismanagement, chemical exposure symptoms after gas leak

Employees at the California Environmental Protection Agency office have voiced concerns that the building’s alert system is unreliable, saying the evacuation was poorly handled after a nearby gas leak Tuesday afternoon caused one worker to develop chemical exposure symptoms.

The leak occurred on 11th and H streets when contractors struck a two-inch natural gas line, resulting in a Level 2 hazmat incident, according to reporting by The Sacramento Bee. At 1:30 p.m., the Sacramento Fire Department received a call about the leak.

Capt. Justin Sylvia said the CalEPA headquarters and two adjacent motel buildings were evacuated after the incident occurred. According to Sylvia, about 1,000 people evacuated the CalEPA office building.

“Once Engine 14 got on scene, they realized that it was a pretty large leak and it needed to be bounced to a Level 2 hazmat for air monitoring purposes,” Sylvia said. “That large of a leak, we need to get people out within a two-block radius.”

The building’s engineering team closed the air intake vents at 1:30 p.m. and met SFD outside the building at 1:45 p.m., according to Monica Hassan, deputy director of public affairs for the California Department of General Services.

According to Sylvia, firefighters were dispatched at 1:39 p.m. after multiple 911 calls reporting a natural gas odor in the CalEPA building. Employees in the building said around 2 p.m., an announcement was broadcast through the intercom, but was initially unclear and failed to provide specific instructions.

At 2 p.m., the chief engineer with DGS made two public announcements to evacuate the building. However, Hassan said in an email the engineering team broadcast continued instructions for the next 20 minutes after “recognizing that the initial PA message lacked clarity.” Several employees confirmed that by the time they received a building-wide email at about 2 p.m. alerting them of the leak, they were already on the stairs or had evacuated after smelling the gas.

“While our first two announcement attempts lacked clarity, a second chief engineer immediately took over the microphone and successfully delivered clear messages,” Hassan said in an email. “We currently attribute the initial issue to operator error.”

Hassan said that the building’s manager and engineering team will conduct tests on the PA system this Sunday to ensure it is functioning properly.

Laura Fisher, an environmental program manager at the Water Resources Control Board, said that she and her colleagues working on the building’s second floor heard the words “attention all occupants” — but no further instructions through the broadcast system. By that time, Fisher said she could see employees evacuating the building through her window.

“I could see that the road had been blocked off and there were tons of people coming out of the emergency exits on the backside of the building, so I stepped out and looked outside the front,” Fisher said. “Most of the building had already been evacuated by the time … my area was alerted that there had been a gas leak.”

Fisher said she could not see or hear that visual alarms on her floor had been activated. Because she lost her sense of smell after having COVID-19, Fisher said, she was unable to detect the natural gas odor that others in the building noticed.

“For a full building evacuation, our policy (is) audible and visual (alarms): the fire lights and safety system plus an audible announcement from the building manager identifying what the emergency is and direction on what to do,” Fisher said. “None of those things happened on my floor.”

She and her colleagues evacuated before the additional announcements were made.

Firefighters cleared the building for re-entry at about 3:15 p.m., Sylvia said. However, Fisher said the gas leak affected her health.

Fisher went to urgent care after evacuating the office with shortness of breath and vomiting. She was then transported to the hospital to be treated for symptoms of chemical exposure.

Fisher has worked in the building for over 20 years. She said that in past emergency situations, building management has followed this protocol. After the building’s management changed from a private company to the state’s Department of General Services during the 2023-24 fiscal year, Fisher said emergency situations have been marked by “chaos.”

Diana Ibrahim, CalEPA deputy secretary for communications and external affairs, said the alarms had been activated. In an email, she said the evacuation proceeded in accordance with emergency protocols outlined in employee training videos.

“The evacuation proceeded safely and effectively,” Ibrahim said. “Once the evacuation was announced, building occupants followed emergency instructions and protocols which allowed them to evacuate safely and without additional incidents.”

Ibrahim said a team will continue to “assess the overall response to find ways to improve response times and to further support employee safety” as part of the building’s post-incident protocols.

Sofia Williams

The Sacramento Bee