LongBeachReport.com | LBReport.com | Sewer Gas Brings Haz Mat Response + Bldg. Evacuation, Cuts Short "Discover North Long Beach" Event

LBReport.com Community Correspondent, Joe Mello, came to cover this community event, saw another news story develop, captured it on camera and reports it below. Dan Pressburg, an event participant representing the Historical Society of LB, also contributed to this report.

(April 16, 2011) -- A strong gas smell triggered an LBFD response, including LBFD's Hazardous Materials unit, and led to the evaculation of the former industrial building where Saturday's (April 16) "Discover North Long Beach" event was taking place, cutting the event short.

Photo by Joe Mello

The event, organized by the office of Councilman Steve Neal with the participation of over a dozen community groups and a number of city agencies, was held at the former Robert Shaw plant at 100 W. Victoria St. (west of LB Blvd.) Use of the 187,000 square foot building (now called the "Long Beach Logistics" facility) was donated for the day's "Discover North Long Beach Community Showcase" with booths set up inside the front portion of the warehouse-type facility (near its loading dock doors and parking lot).

Photo by Joe Mello

The event began at 10 a.m. and was scheduled to last until 3 p.m. Long time NLB community advocate Dan Pressburg (photo below) who took part in the event on behalf of the LB Historical Society said things started out normally

Photo by Joe Mello

"Some eighteen vendors as well as yellow cab vans drove attendees from four pick-up points throughout the 9th District...There were vendors from Rancho Dominguez, Rancho Los Cerritos, representatives of the North Redevelopment Project Area Committee, Cal Poly community planning students and Fresh and Easy" to name a few.

Based on a sign-in sheet, Mr. Pressburg estimates the attendance at roughly 130 including event participants.

Councilman Neal, battling a bout of painful sciatica, arrived in a wheelchair...

Photo by Joe Mello

...but was otherwise undeterred.

Photo by Joe Mello

But at about 11:30 a.m., moments after Councilman Neal held a "countdown" to unveil a 9th district website (privately operated by Neal outside City Hall with a dot-com, not dot-gov domain), the Long Beach Fire Department announced that the building was being evacuated because of a strong natural gas smell.

Photo by Joe Mello

Some LBFD units were already on-scene as event participants and firefighters quickly roped off the area after the crowd filed out building.

Photo by Joe Mello

Five police units, and eight fire and paramedic units, units from Station 12 plus an LBFD Haz Mat team responded to the scene.

Photo by Dan Pressburg

Photo by Joe Mello

LBFD's Haz Mat team suited up in their protective suits and went to the unused restrooms at the rear of the building. They brought out a bottle they placed in a sealed plastic bag, at first thought to contain chemicals that might have been responsible for the odor...but wasn't.

Photo by Joe Mello

The building's owner arrived and told LBReport.com that the building didn't have any natural gas hookups. The building was recently renovated and awaiting its new tenants. City Manager Pat West arrived (part of his normal weekend visits to various community events, he indicated) and visited with the crowd in the parking lot.

Firefighters finally solved the mystery: LBFD Public Information Officer Steve Yamamoto says the smell was sewer gas from a men's restroom that hasn't been in use for a while.

While the cause was determined, event attendees waited outside in the hot sun. Visitors and participants sought shade and some eventually departed.

Photo by Joe Mello

Booth participants waited outside until the "all clear" was given (so they could re-enter the building and retrieve their belongings. That came about two hours after the incident began when LBFD indicated there was no danger and let participants re-enter the building...but the event was effectively over.

Councilman Neal's new website www.insidedistrict9.com includes a message signed by Councilman Neal, saying the website is "designed to create an open dialogue between the council office and the residents of the 9th District and serve as a central resource for coordination, communication and support.

Council office Chief of Staff Richardson says the Councilman plans to make it a "community" website, and likewise doesn't plan to do an annual "State of the Council district" type event, preferring to have a community Congress type event in which neighborhood groups will hold an annual meeting along with periodic (perhaps quarterly) meetings.

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