Marco Island is calling in experts to examine the claim that some residents are suffering various ailments because of the hydrogen sulfide released by underground construction.

While Public Works Director Rony Joel said he does not believe the gas is to blame for any illness, he said he’s taking the allegation seriously.

“I’m really very concerned that we might be undertaking an activity that could cause a health risk to our community,” he said. “And if I thought we were putting our citizens’ health at risk I would recommend to City Council to stop construction activities.”

In response to citizens’ concerns, the city is calling in professionals with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the South Florida Water Management District. He said the city will be reviewing its procedures as they relate to the gas’ release, and he will consult with Collier County Health Department Director Joan Colfer on the possibility of such a threat to public health.

One resident, Jim Kennedy, raised the issue at Monday night’s meeting of the City Council during discussion of accelerating the Septic Tank Replacement Program.

Kennedy told the council he has been uncharacteristically fatigued in recent weeks, has suffered a loss of appetite and experienced headaches. He blamed it on the hydrogen sulfide gas that has permeated the air in the North Barfield area since underground construction began there.

Photo by LESLIE WILLIAMS HALE

Eagle staff

The tubes and pipes running along the side of North Barfield Drive were put in place to pump groundwater out of the soil to enable construction work. The same process can be blamed for the hydrogen sulfide that hangs in the air in what city officials say are safe levels.

The construction calls for the ground to be dehydrated so workers can lay pipe, and the “dewatering” process pumps water from the ground and into the city’s canals.

City Public Information Coordinator Lisa Douglass has said this process also releases natural underground gasses, like hydrogen sulfide, into the air. While the gas can be dangerous — even fatal — in concentrated amounts, city officials have remained adamant that the levels present in the air are not significant enough to cause harm.

Kennedy disagrees.

“You ever notice a lot of people are coughing on Marco Island?” Kennedy asked the council. “I go into the store, people are coughing. I talk to people on the phone, they’re coughing.”

Kennedy’s comments drew another spectator to the podium, who backed up Kennedy’s claims that something fishy is influencing island residents’ respiratory health.

Andrew Guidry, a resident and internal medicine physician, stood before the councilors stating that he had no intention of speaking on the issue until he heard Kennedy’s comments.

“I’ve been practicing here for the last 10 years and I’ve got to tell you, something’s been going on,” he said. “There is a plethora of respiratory-type conditions going on. I don’t know for sure that it’s being caused by the hydrogen sulfide, but something is going on.”

While longterm exposure to the gas could cause such symptoms, Joel pointed out, there are other possible explanations. He called to memory the recent forest fires that left most of Florida shrouded in acrid smoke, and said red tide has been linked to a host of ailments like respiratory distress and nausea.

Kennedy said in an interview that he has not consulted a physician about his symptoms, but noted that his fatigue is a marked contrast to his former habits as a night owl.

He said he made the connection between his symptoms and the gas when he read a blog posting written by Marco resident Mario Sanchez that detailed the risks associated with exposure to marked levels of hydrogen sulfide.

Another resident, Patty Stamatis, said she is in a similar situation to Kennedy. She said she has experienced the same fatigue, combined with a slight drop in respiratory capacity and occasional upset stomach.

Like Kennedy, Stamatis said she has not consulted a doctor about her ailments.

“I don’t think with going to a physician you can really substantiate it,” she said.

Discussion of the gas and its effects heated up after two workers were reportedly incapacitated by it before falling into an open manhole. One is employed by the city and the other by the contracting firm DN Higgins.

A week later, a resident called the city complaining that the silver in his home had tarnished while he was out of town. Hydrogen sulfide is known to tarnish metals.

Fire-Rescue Chief Mike Murphy went to the scene to investigate the complaint, and said he used special chemical detectors employed by his department to pick up substances like hydrogen sulfide.

“We came up with nothing other than what we could smell,” he said in an interview Monday. “Our equipment is sensitive equipment; the same that was used in that manhole.”

Though discussion of the gas has become heightened as a result of the two incidents, Joel said it is not a new dialogue.

“We’re talking about two workers who did something stupid and got themselves hurt, and it’s elevated it,” he said.

He noted that both the city and DN Higgins called the Occupational Safety and Health Administration after the incident with the two workers, and OSHA is currently investigating it.

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