Toxic Fumes Send 27 to Marin County Hospitals
Toxic fumes, apparently from a municipal water-purification plant, routed office workers from buildings in nearby Corte Madera on Friday and sent 27 people to three hospitals with eye and throat irritations.
None of those hospitalized required treatment, officials said, and most were released within a few hours. In addition to irritated eyes and throats, patients complained of nausea, chest pains and fatigue.
Capt. Anthony Hoke of the Twin Cities Police Department said the incident began about noon at a Marin Municipal Water District facility, when workers complained of feeling ill. A few minutes later, the cloud wafted over nearby office buildings.
Authorities at the Marin County Environmental Health Department would not comment on the nature of the toxic chemical cloud, saying only that by late afternoon it no longer posed any danger to the area.
No official evacuation notice was given, but people living and working in the area, about 10 miles north of San Francisco, were advised to keep their doors and windows closed. Some employers voluntarily sent workers home early.
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