Nearly two dozen students were treated at hospitals after suddenly becoming sick at a Kentucky high school, triggering an evacuation and a multi-agency investigation into what caused the mysterious wave of illness.
The emergency unfolded Monday morning, Sept. 21, at Pleasure Ridge Park High School in Louisville.
Students inside the school’s technical building began reporting symptoms including nausea, headaches and dizziness. Some students also fainted, according to school officials and local reports.
Emergency crews were called to the campus at around 8:37 a.m. after what initially came in as a medical run quickly expanded as more students became sick.
School officials evacuated the technical building and moved unaffected students to the main gym while firefighters and other agencies searched for a possible environmental hazard.
Pleasure Ridge Park Fire Protection District crews conducted multiple checks of the building.
Fire officials initially said they found no evidence of a gas leak or another hazardous condition.
Ten students were transported to hospitals by emergency crews, while six others were evaluated but declined transport, according to WLKY.
But the number of students who ultimately sought medical treatment was even higher.
Norton Healthcare later confirmed that 22 students connected to the incident were seen at four of its facilities.
As investigators searched for answers, Jefferson County Public Schools initially disclosed that wrappers from THC-infused candy had been found in a trash can near the area where students first became ill.
District officials said some THC products are packaged to look similar to ordinary candy and asked health officials whether the products could have played a role.
However, there was no confirmation that any of the sick students had eaten the candy.
That possible explanation was later called into doubt.
By Tuesday, the school district said additional environmental testing had uncovered another possible culprit: a dried-out P-trap in a chemistry lab inside the technical building.
A P-trap is the U-shaped section of pipe beneath a sink or drain. It normally holds a small amount of water that prevents sewer gases from entering a building.
According to JCPS, the dry trap may have allowed sewer gas to enter the lab.
Officials said an egg-like odor had also been detected in the room and that the drain was smoke-tested several times before corrective measures were taken to restore the water seal.
The technical building was closed Tuesday while officials continued investigating.
Still, authorities have stopped short of declaring sewer gas the definitive cause.
Louisville’s Metropolitan Sewer District said it investigated and did not find abnormalities in the public sewer system. The agency also said it had received no odor complaints or other reports involving the sewer system within five miles of the school during the previous week.
Other possibilities were also examined, including carbon monoxide and powder left over from a weekend color run.
One parent provided WLKY with hospital discharge paperwork listing “accidental exposure to carbon monoxide,” although district testing did not establish carbon monoxide as the source of the broader incident.
The shifting explanations have left some parents frustrated and demanding clearer answers.
One student who was treated in an emergency room described feeling extremely nauseated, dizzy and suffering from a severe headache.
JCPS said it would continue evaluating the building and monitoring the situation.
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