Edison officials said the 28 women and children taken to area hospitals from the Ozanam Family Shelter in Edison Monday returned to the shelter that night. Watch video
EDISON -- Township officials said the 28 women and children taken to area hospitals from the Ozanam Family Shelter in Edison Monday were returned to the shelter Monday evening, but the cause for their illness is still unknown.
Officials said Tuesday the township fire department found no indication of carbon monoxide in the building on Truman Drive Monday. On Saturday, however, fire officials and Public Service Electric & Gas Co. (PSE&G) workers did detect carbon monoxide in levels of 800 to 1,000 parts per million in one part of the shelter.
Officials said shelter personnel told Edison officials the facility had its own HVAC (heating and air conditioning) contractor inspect and service its heating systems on Sunday.
The women and children were taken to the hospital mid-day Monday after complaining of fever, nausea and vomiting, officials said.
http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2016/01/26_exposed_to_carbon_monoxide_at_edison_shelter.html
Marianne Majewski, executive director of Catholic Charities of Middlesex County which operates the shelter, said that on Saturday, the shelter had a problem with its boiler that led to some higher than normal elevations of carbon monoxide, along with a carbon monoxide alarm.
Later that day, it was cleared for occupancy.
On Sunday, a resident went to the hospital for an illness, but it wasn't carbon monoxide poisoning, Majewski said. And none of the 28 people taken to the hospital Monday after a carbon monoxide scare came up with traces of the poisonous gas in their system.
Majewski said that since Saturday, the facility has been tested numerous times for carbon monoxide, including on Monday, and it's come up negative again and again.
Sue Epstein may be reached at sepstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @susan_epstein. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Staff writer Brian Amaral contributed to this story. He may be reached at bamaral@njadvancemedia.com.