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RENVILLE, Minn. (AP) -- Contaminated water from high-power
sprayers may have caused 14 industrial workers to get sick at a
sugar beet cooperative here, health officials said.
Investigators are still trying to determine the exact cause of
the illness.
On Aug. 2, the emergency room of Rice Memorial Hospital was
briefly quarantined when the workers from VEIT Environmental, Inc.,
sought treatment for symptoms of fever and respiratory problems.
The workers were subcontractors at the Southern Minnesota Beet
Sugar Cooperative. They had been using high-powered sprayers to
clean condenser tubes in the plant.
A mist created by the force of the water through the sprayers
contained high levels of bacteria and endotoxins, a toxic substance
on the cell walls of bacteria, said Mike Schommer, spokesman for the
Minnesota Department of Agriculture.
The water used by the workers comes from the beets themselves. A
sugar beet is 75 percent water. The water is then treated and
recycled and used for a variety of tasks.
Since the incident, the sugar beet cooperative has switched from
using the recycled water to using potable water.
According to Dave Sobaski, operations manager for VEIT, the 14
workers who were sick are doing better.
Officers from the Department of Health do not expect long-term
health effects, but they have advised the workers to have their
blood tested every three months for about a year.
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