At Dilapidated Courthouse, Even the Water Can Be Scary

When D. Kent Pedersen heard that brown water was flowing out of the faucets and drinking fountains at the San Diego County Courthouse Tuesday morning, he wasn’t eager to believe the worst.

Pedersen, the court administrator for San Diego Municipal Court, had already downed four cups of coffee brewed with courthouse tap water. He didn’t want to think about that. But, given the courthouse’s troubled history, he couldn’t help himself.

“We’ve had so many problems with asbestos, rodents, roaches and ceiling tiles coming down. . . . I leaped to the assumption it was sewage,” Pedersen said. “I felt green around the gills. I wanted to gag.”

Instead, Pedersen quickly posted typewritten signs on several of the building’s drinking fountains advising that the water had been contaminated “by a leak from the sewer system.”

The memo was incorrect--the real cause of the discolored water, city officials confirmed later, was a water main break on Date Street that shook some sediment loose into the pipes. Although far from aesthetically pleasing, the water was not harmful, county health officials said later.

But, before they learned the truth, some courthouse employees had already panicked. Neal Putnam, the managing editor of County News Service, which has its offices in the courthouse, said he had made three visits to an unmarked water fountain before he heard the disgusting news.

“I was almost going to call my doctor and get a hepatitis shot,” he said. “And then I thought, ‘The county should pay for it.’ ”

Moreover, some administrators and maintenance supervisors later admitted, as they hurried to reassure people, the confusion got worse before it got better.

Around lunchtime, Pedersen hastily sent out a second memo to replace the first one. Marked “Corrected Notice,” it explained that the drinking water was contaminated because of a leak in the city’s water main and that, until further notice, it should not be used “for purposes of drinking or making coffee.”

Then, after a television reporter inquired why the signs were only in English, someone posted additional signs in Spanish: “Favor de no tomar. El agua puede estar contaminada.” (Please don’t drink the water. It may be contaminated.) Other, hand-lettered signs were posted as well: “Brown Water. Do Not Drink.”

About 2 p.m., three maintenance workers began taking all the signs down. The problem had been taken care of, explained one of them--a bearded fellow who stood 6-foot-6.

“I used to be 5-foot before I drank the water,” he joked, as he ripped down one of Pedersen’s corrected warnings. “I chugged a bunch--it didn’t taste any different.”

Before he and his colleagues could complete their task, however, they were stopped by a marshal.

“The only ones we want removed are the ones that say sewage,” explained Lt. Sam Gonzales. “Maintenance is going to put more signs up.”

Then came the third and final sign. It said: “Please Do Not Drink the Water Due to City of San Diego Water Repairs.”

Pedersen wasn’t satisfied. He was the first to admit that his signs had gone too far. But the latest signs didn’t go far enough, he said.

“They’re crummy. I don’t think they tell the honest story,” he said Tuesday afternoon. “But, if we were to do anything about it, it would be the third time we’d switched.”

Pedersen acknowledged he was the one who had originally set the rumor mill buzzing. But, in his own defense, he recalled the fateful March of 1988, when the courthouse basement was flooded with sewage.

“We were infested with three inches of effluent. Unfortunately, in this building we’ve been led to leap to the worst possible conclusion,” he said. “I hope I didn’t create a public health stampede. I just don’t want anyone getting sick. I’ll swallow hard and accept the responsibility.”