OMP

A transformer which was located in a vault beneath the One Market Plaza Building in downtown San Francisco caught fire.  The fire department could not fight the fire without the electricity in the building being shut off.  During the time it took to cut off electricity to the building, the smoke and soot were distributed throughout lower sections of the building via the HVAC system.  Allegations linking Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB's) to cancer caused the building to be sealed for an extended period of time until it could be cleaned sufficiently to meet local standards.

RTI managed and coordinated a multi-disciplinary team of investigative consultants to address the root cause and contamination issues. The PCB clean-up procedures were evaluated and the HVAC system design and operation were analyzed, as were the transformer and network protector failure.  The isolation circuitry and utility actions were investigated and evaluated.  The building automation system, techniques used in firefighting, and fire detection suppression systems were also evaluated.

RTI provided testimony, demonstrative evidence, and graphics.