Clean Bill of Health for Laguna Library

Jokingly calling the Laguna Beach branch library the “most investigated library in Orange County history,” health and county library officials concluded that odors or fumes from outside the Laguna Beach branch caused its employees to suffer mysterious symptoms that included nausea, disorientation and impaired motor skills.

The 26-year-old building, which has been closed since March 24 while authorities conducted the tests, will be reopened Monday, Orange County Librarian John M. Adams announced at a news conference Wednesday.

Odors and fumes coming from cars in the parking lot that lies partly under the county library branch, garbage dumpsters also located underneath and a sewer system connected to the building were being drawn into the building and dispersed through pipe and other conduit passages throughout the facility, said Dr. Joseph Fedoruk, medical director of the UC Irvine Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, which conducted the testing.

To prevent fumes from being drawn into the building, county officials said, cracks around the pipes and conduits have been sealed, a basement vent has been closed and additional exhaust fans have been installed, together with a floor drain that will keep sewer gases from backing up into the basement.

Further, the facility, at 363 Glenneyre St., has undergone a rigorous cleaning, including an antiseptic treatment of all internal surfaces and steam-cleaning of the building’s exterior, including the roof.

“All of us involved in this feel very confident in stating that all is safe in the library,” Adams said. He added that he will work out of the Laguna Beach facility for two weeks, to be on hand should any further problems arise.

The county spent from $40,000 to $50,000 on the investigation, repairs and cleaning.

The library was closed for a day on March 17 when employees suffered unexplained symptoms. It was closed again March 24, when employees reported illnesses similar to the first bout.

Four of the facility’s six employees suffered from the symptoms. They have “undergone extensive medical tests” and have not suffered any recurrence of the illnesses, Fedoruk said.

Since March 24, the county has conducted a series of tests, which included taking samples from the air, carpet and plumbing and air-conditioning systems to look for various chemical and biological contaminants, leading Fedoruk to give it the humorous title of the most investigated library in the county’s history.