p. Four dining services employees were taken to the Williamsburg Sentara hospital this morning due to a chemical spill in the Marketplace around 9:30 a.m. that led to the evacuation of the Campus Center. Authorities determined that a cleaning solvent used in the Marketplace was making employees sick.
p. Brian Whitson, the College’s Director of News Services, said 50 to 60 people were inside the Marketplace at the time of the evacuation. Police and fire crews ventilated the building, and Hazmat officials tested the air quality and chemicals.
p. Hazmat judged the building safe, and the Campus Center reopened around 11:30 a.m.
p. Phone calls, e-mails and text messages went out to students signed up for the College’s new emergency alert system. The messages alerted students of the incident and informed them that the Marketplace was closed.