Woman Hospitalized in UVa HAZMAT Incident is Released

Updated: 3:18 PM Aug 8, 2009

A woman injured Thursday in a HAZMAT incident at Wilson Hall at UVa. is out of the hospital. The contents of a package delivered to the academic building were safe, but what was on the outside of the package made one woman sick, and created a toxic smell that was overwhelming to those inside.

Posted: 11:36 AM Aug 6, 2009
Reporter: Bianca Spinosa
Email Address: bianca.spinosa@newsplex.com

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August 6, 2009

A woman injured in a Hazardous Materials incident at the University of Virginia is out of the hospital.

It happened at Wilson Hall, right off Jefferson Park Avenue at around 10:40 am. The contents of the package delivered to the academic building was safe; it contained a bunch of brochures. But what was on the outside of the package made one woman sick and created a toxic smell that was overwhelming to those inside.

Ambulances and HAZMAT crews were called to the building after the woman opened a package covered in a strong glue. When it mixed with rainwater, it caused the woman who opened the delivered package to have an allergic reaction.

"They were unable to get it off their hands. It's similar to opening a glue container. You get that blast of smell right off the bat. And that's why we believe that individual was sick," says Robert Bragg, Battalion Chief of Operations with the Charlottesville Fire Department.

HAZMAT and emergency crews did a full investigation before coming to that conclusion. They took no chances.

"We have a workforce here 12 months out of the year, so we prepare for everybody," says Marge Sidebottom, the Director of Emergency Preparedness at UVA. "[we] definitely make sure we have systems in place."

Once officials arrived, the 18 people inside Wilson Hall were evacuated and quarantined inside a CTS bus for over an hour. That was after they had been waiting outside the academic building for an hour.

While on the bus, the UVa staff members who had been inside Wilson Hall were given free lunch, but one man said he thought the quarantine was unnecessary, and an over-reaction to a benign incident.

But fire officials say they must take these kind of precautions.

"You get a call where someone's been injured, and there's a box or a product of unknown origin at the time, it needs to be dealt with. Precautions are better than just saying 'oh it's fine' and going ahead," says Chief Bragg.

As always, safety was the number one priority.

The woman who was treated for the minor injuries from coming into contact with the glue was treated and released from the hospital at around 2:00 pm Thursday.

While Wilson Hall re-opened soon after the incident, CBS19 spoke with one UVA student who had a summer school exam that was supposed to be held in Wilson Hall. It ended up being canceled.

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