Leaky Pipe Sends Water Through Courthouse Ceiling

Business at the downtown San Diego courthouse was disrupted Monday by a leaky pipe that sent water gushing onto a third-floor landing--the second broken pipe in as many business days at the dilapidated structure, officials said.

The deluge occurred about 9 a.m. after an air-conditioning pipe ruptured and water ripped through several 2-by-3-foot ceiling tiles before splashing to a stop near the Superior Court’s business office, according to Judge Arthur Jones, the court’s presiding judge.

No one was hurt, he said. It is unknown whether the tiles exposed anyone to asbestos, a known cancer-causing agent in the ceiling tiles.

Last Friday, a backed-up sewage pipe ruptured at the courthouse, raining waste water on the Superior Court’s civil files. Most of the 12,000 files escaped damage, but about 200 will need to be baked at 180 degrees for half an hour to cook any bacteria that might be caught in the paper fibers, Jones said.

The 30-year-old courthouse has been regularly plagued by rats and roaches as well as broken or dim lights.