Construction Crew Sickened for Second Day

ORANGE — Several construction workers were rushed to the hospital Wednesday after suffering from nausea, vomiting and headaches for the second day in a row, and county health authorities are investigating.

Five men were cutting a trench for piping at a business in the 1600 block of East Katella Avenue when they got sick after work Tuesday, and the symptoms surfaced again when they returned to work the next morning, Battalion Chief Tim Dombrowski said. Paramedics took them to St. Joseph Hospital, where they were treated and scheduled to be released the same day, Dombrowski said.

Meanwhile, a hazardous-materials unit was summoned to the site, where the team tested the air, water and ground soil and “was unable to find anything that might have caused the illnesses,” Dombrowski said.

County health workers are planning to interview the men and continue investigating what is making them sick. Firefighters did not know whether the men will return to work today, and the electrical contractor employing them could not be reached for comment.

In an unrelated incident earlier this year, several employees working inside a Laguna Beach building housing a county library and the Chamber of Commerce also experienced similar symptoms, the cause of which remained unknown.

Authorities are waiting for additional tests and have temporarily closed the library and the Chamber of Commerce at 363 Glenneyre St., County Librarian John M. Adams said.

Of several people who became ill, “two are still exhibiting some symptoms,” Adams said. They are being treated at UCI Medical Center in Orange.