Employees at the Carbon County courthouse were evacuated Monday morning after a sulfur smell was detected in the building.
According to Carbon County Commissioner Casey Hopes, employees smelled sulfur early in the morning and some started to experience headaches. It was decided to evacuate employees while crews worked to find the source.
Hopes explained that crews eventually discovered that a sealed battery housed inside of an election booth had gone bad within the building and was emitting hydrogen sulfide. According to Hopes, the battery built up enough pressure to crack the housing, thus emitting the toxic fumes. Crews were quickly able to discard the battery, which is roughly the size of an ATV battery, and clean the area.
“The levels were high enough to give you a headache but not high enough to be lethal,” Hopes said.
Employees were given the rest of the day off while the building was aired out. The courthouse reopened Tuesday morning.