UPDATE: Local Census Bureau Employees Hospitalized from Pot Odors
03/14/10 - 07:16 PM
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NewsChannel 5 was the first to break the story Saturday.

After being hospitalized, the local acting manager for the U.S. Census Bureau says enough is enough.  Grand Junction’s Census acting manager was hospitalized on Saturday, and now, he is speaking out.  Dr. Russell Copelan tells NewsChannel 5 two employees with the local U.S. Census Bureau were treated and released from Community Hospital this afternoon.  Dr. Copelan was treated for a swollen tongue, and the assistant manager was treated for confusion and fatigue.  “I felt my tongue tingle every time I walked in to the office,” Dr. Copeland said. “A swollen tongue is not normal or usual for people to have.  I couldn’t eat or taste anything.  My eyes would start watering and my nose would start running as soon as I stepped in to the office.  That’s not normal,” Dr. Copelan said.  He said the symptoms got really bad on Saturday.

The visit to the Emergency Room comes after Grand Junction Police Department and detectives with the Western Colorado Drug Task Force found more than a thousand marijuana plants and a tub full of hash in a suite in the same building as the local Census Bureau.  Since October, tenants have smelled different odors coming from Suite 101.  The room has hosted pot grown for medical marijuana dispensaries since October.  To this day, the pot farm still remains in the suite.  Dr. Copelan said the odor is causing workers to still get seriously sick.

It’s not the first time local Census employees have been treated for symptoms from the odors.  Dr. Copelan said around 30 Census employees, which is about half of the Grand Junction workers, have had symptoms of fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, coughing, sneezing, wheezing, nasal congestion, and watery eyes.  He said four employees have been medically treated for the symptoms, and two of them, the managers, have been hospitalized.  “I’m doing everything in my power to improve the current situation.  I have made at least 10 calls and e-mails to Denver’s Census office over the past week, and have gotten little to no response.  if I place myself in jeopardy for that, that’s how the chips will fall,” Dr. Copelan said.

Dr. Copelan said the odors are off and on and sometimes smell like marijuana, and at other times like sulfur.  Medical marijuana growers say sulfur dust is sometimes used in indoor marijuana growing operations.  Prolonged exposure to symptoms to sulfur can lead to the same symptoms employees have been experiencing.  “Sulfur presents a range of symptoms.  One extreme is that a patient will die,” he said.

Dr. Copelan said Denver’s Census Bureau office was told many times about the odors and employee’s symptoms, but the office has yet to take any action.  He said several e-mails and phone calls were made to stress the seriousness of the situation.  He said the local office has not heard back from Denver and no one from the office had come to visit until a week later.  “After one weeks time, there’s been not visit or intervention from Denver,” Dr. Copelan said.  “We have asked for face masks, workers compensation papers, and not received any.  We have recommended that Occupational Safety and Health Administration be contacted, and they have not been contacted. Denver has a duty to protect its employees from a foreseeable, clearly documented health risk.  In my opinion, they have breached that duty to protect.  They have not responded in the urgent matter it is.  They clearly know at this point that there’s a foreseeable hazard.  That hazard is a marijuana growing field within the same building in which the local census office is located,” Dr. Copelan said.

After many phone calls and messages, NewsChannel 5 received an e-mail state from Denver’s Census Bureau office:
‘The health of our employees is of great concern to us and we have taken several steps to address recent questions about the Grand Junction Local Census office.  We have instituted a liberal policy for time off work for those who need to see a physician or feel they need to be away from their office setting. We have thoroughly informed our staff about the process for visiting a physician and filing for reimbursement under workman’s comp. We have purchased and are distributing a supply of N-95 masks and have scheduled air quality tests for the office. In addition, the nature of a large part of our current operations is that we are hand-delivering surveys to rural areas and resort towns in Colorado—- work that is conducted out of the office and in communities.”

Dr. Copelan said Homeland Security and Drug Enforcement Administration was at the Grand Junction office for about four hours total.  Dr. Copelan said one haz-mat investigator and federal law enforcement investigator with Homeland Security observed, answered questions, and provided safety training to Census workers.  “When Homeland Security arrived, their immediate reaction upon entering the most frontal area of the office, their experience, and their smelling factory senses were activated to the point where they indicated this is a toxic environment,” he said.

Dr. Copelan said employees have tried to contact Occupational Safety and Health Administration about the serious situation.  “A small number of individuals have directly contacted OSHA in an attempt to receive inspection immediately.  The source of the contamination has not been removed,” he said.

“Doctors have told some employees to stay home because of the severity of their sickness,” Dr. Copelan said.  “We have pregnant women, people with pre-existing conditions, cancer survivors, disabled, and senior citizens working in the building smelling these odors all day,” he said.  Since the marijuana remains in the building, the symptoms have not gone away.  Dr. Copelan said most employees do not have health insurance.  “Clearly the Denver office does not see our distress nor hear our communication.  I look on the employees faces and I see anxiety, and hope that their regional census center will take immediate reaction.  Workers are staying in the office because of the current economical climate.  Many of these people need to work.  The workers are intimidated to present these concerns themselves.  As an acting manager, it’s my duty to speak up for them,” Dr. Copelan said.

But not everyone is taking Dr. Copelan seriously.  Even after Homeland Security recommendations, Dr. Copelan’s supervisor, an employee at the Denver Census office, told administration he thought Dr. Copelan was “blowing smoke.”  Administration traveling from Denver to Grand Junction will get to experience first-hand tomorrow for the first time.  Dr. Copelan said he hopes it’s not a whistleblower situation, but he is doubtful.  “I will not be employed as the acting manager of Grand Junction’s Census office starting tomorrow.  Hopefully I receive my old position as Regional Technician back,” he said.

NewsChannel 5 reported earlier this week that tenants of the building were told Suite 101 was a “nursery” and “agricultural supply business.”  The Western Colorado Drug Task Force found that realtor, Sid Squirrel of Bray Commercial Realty, found more than a thousand marijuana plants and a tub full of hash in the suite.  As a result, the Census Bureau office closed for several hours for health concerns. Officers form the Department of Homeland Security were also at the building for a few hours on Thursday.  Squirrel, currently in Mexico, declined to comment and hung up the phone Saturday afternoon.  According to the search warrant, is with in Mexico with the owner of Naturals Wellness Center, the Grand Junction’s medical marijuana dispensary he said he’s supplying.

The investigation is ongoing. No arrests or seizures have been made in the case.  Stay tuned in to NewsChannel 5 and krextv.com for up-to-date information.

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