Sewage Backup Shuts Down Panhandle Forests Building Workers Steer Clear During Cleanup

A sewage backup has forced about 100 Panhandle National Forests employees out of their offices.

Workers spent Wednesday moving computers, desks, carpeting, maps and other items into makeshift offices in a warehouse behind the Idaho Panhandle National Forests supervisor’s office in Coeur d’Alene.

Other employees worked at home, at area ranger stations or in the field.

“We’re sure hoping this isn’t for very long,” said Dave O’Brien, information team leader.

The problem started Dec. 17, when “black water” sewage burbled up through the building’s floor drains and pooled throughout the office, O’Brien said.

A crew cleaned up the sewage, but employees continued to smell a musty odor, he said. Many complained of watery eyes, runny noses and sore throats, he said.

Workers from Action Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning in Hayden Lake fumigated the building last week, using a fungicide called Milgo to kill mold and bacteria, O’Brien said.

But on Monday, an employee who spent just 20 minutes in the building had to be taken to the emergency room, he said.

After the fungicide was applied, “we started seeing pronounced symptoms in the other employees,” O’Brien said. “We started saying, `What’s going on here?”’ The building was shut down at noon Tuesday.

Crews began ripping out the building’s carpets Wednesday and plan to cut some of the drywall off the walls and purge the ventilation system, he said. It is unclear how much the cleanup will cost, he said.

Chemical test results are expected by the middle of next week, and officials have no idea when employees will be back in the building, he said.

Forest hydrologist Rick Patten spent Wednesday working on his home computer.

“It’s working, but it’s only the first day,” Patten said.

The closure comes at a bad time for his department, which is working on a geographic assessment project, Patten said.

“We need to work as a team,” he said. “Until we get reorganized to figure out how we’re going to communicate, it’s going to set us back a few days. … There’s going to be a couple bumps in our momentum.”

O’Brien said the Forest Service employees should have few problems adjusting to the temporary workplaces.

“A lot of these people fight forest fires,” he said. “They’re used to setting up computers and phones in little offices in the middle of nowhere.”

The 6-year-old Panhandle National Forests building also houses the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the North Idaho Forest Health and Protection Unit.

The Coeur d’Alene River Ranger District office, 2502 E. Sherman Ave., is open to the public for map sales, wood permits and other business. Call (208) 765-7223 for more information.