Mystery Odor Closes DMV Office; 16 Treated : Van Nuys: Officials trace ‘swamp water’ smell to a leak in the roof. Building will remain closed through today.

About 100 employees and customers at a Department of Motor Vehicles office in Van Nuys were evacuated and 16 became ill after a mysterious “swamp water” odor wafted through the busy workplace Tuesday.

The office at Vanowen Street and Kester Avenue was closed after the evacuation and will remain closed at least through today. Two employees were treated and released from a nearby hospital and 14 were treated in the parking lot of the building by paramedics. No one was hospitalized.

City Fire Department and county health officials apparently traced the source of the odor to water that had leaked into a section of foam between layers of the roof. The water may have been there for months and slowly seeped through the parts of the roof.

“The water has been standing in there and it has turned to swamp water,” said Battalion Chief Robert MacMillan. “It may have been in there since the heavy rains we had earlier this year.”

MacMillan said part of the building’s air-conditioning system routed air through a ceiling section that was exposed to the water seepage. “The air conditioner pumped it all through the building,” he said.

James Odling, a county hazardous materials specialist, said the focus of his investigation is on the water leak, though other sources for the odor have not been ruled out.

“The water leak is the only abnormality we have found,” he said.

If the water leak is determined to be the problem, it may take several days to open sections of the roof and clean out rotted and damp areas, he said.

“I suspect it will go beyond tomorrow,” Odling said. “They will not reopen until we are sure what it was and that it has been eliminated.”

A DMV spokeswoman said the department will make a decision on when to reopen after getting results of water and air tests conducted Tuesday.

Employees at the Vanowen office said they began to notice a slight odor Monday afternoon and, when they came to work Tuesday, it was stronger.

“It seemed to be concentrated in the front of the building,” said Rosie Romero, the building’s manager. “The employees that work up front were the first to start complaining about it. It got progressively worse.”

Employees began to check desks and trash cans for spoiled food but the source of the odor was not discovered. By 9:30 a.m., several workers were saying they were feeling nauseated and complaining of scratchy throats. Romero then called the Fire Department.

“It smelled like rotten eggs or sulfur,” said Maria Shikman, who became dizzy and was later treated by paramedics. “It was getting worse and I just started to feel sick.”

Because of the large number of workers who complained of illness, MacMillan said there was the possibility that some employees developed symptoms after seeing the discomfort of fellow workers, a form of hysteria not uncommon in situations where large groups are exposed to unknown fumes.