Trouble in the ‘Fish Tank’: Students suffer from chemical fumes, USC slow to respond

The School of Cinematic Arts’ Operations department and the Department of Public Safety ignored calls to address the presence of toxic chemicals in the basement of an SCA building until a student was hospitalized, students in the Interactive Media and Games Division say. 

What was initially thought to be a gas leak turned out to be a bucket of drain cleaner fluid that had been left in the basement for nearly a week after reports were first made to DPS and SCA Operations on April 5. The bucket has since been removed, but the smell of burning plastic was still present as of Wednesday.

Alaya Knowlton, a freshman majoring in game art, initially called DPS to report the smell of burning plastic in the School of Cinematic Arts’ basement.

“It made our throats burn … Breathing became kind of hard when we were exposed to it,” she said. “I thought that could be like a fire or something.”

Knowlton said DPS told her someone would look into the smell, but the odor persisted. 

“For a week after that, we still smelled it in that hallway,” she said. “There’s not really any evidence from my perspective of them doing anything to fix the issue from that call.”

Nearly 10 days later, Sydney Walker, a freshman majoring in game development and interactive design, became so ill that she ended up in the hospital, where she received an official diagnosis of chemical inhalation. 

“All of a sudden my hands start shaking and my vision starts to blur,” she said, recalling the day she was hospitalized. “I ended up calling a nurse and they just … called DPS [to take me to a hospital] without even asking me.”

According to messages sent in a USC Games Discord server — screenshots of which the Daily Trojan has obtained and verified — Julian Avrith, a freshman majoring in interactive media and game design, notified staff and classmates that the fumes had resulted in a hospitalization. Half an hour later, a faculty member made a server-wide announcement that students should avoid entering the “Fish Tank,” the nickname given to the classroom where the fumes originated, where many games students typically spend their time working on projects. 

Another half hour later, Gini Benson, an administrative budget assistant at SCA, made a second announcement on the server telling students to avoid the basement as a whole. Five minutes after this announcement, Peter Brinson, a professor of practice in the Interactive Media and Games Division, said DPS had already identified the issue. 

“I investigated with a person from Facilities and a DPS guy,” Brinson said. “It’s a false alarm. Apparently, a new liquid cleaner is getting poured into the sewer system, which is a thing they always do, and the new stuff smells a little … So I’ll see my students down there in 20-plus minutes for class!” 

Walker remained in the hospital for a few hours before being discharged.

“They just gave up for 10 days until I got sick,” Walker said. “And the minute I got sick, within an hour, they cleared the building. So, they found it within an hour.” 

Benson sent a message to the Discord server Wednesday that the building’s HVAC system turns off at midnight, despite the fact that students can remain there until 2 a.m. An SCA spokesperson told the Daily Trojan Thursday that SCI’s normal operating hours are until midnight, but starting Wednesday, students were allowed to remain in the building 24/7 to work on projects.

Walker said her symptoms only began to dissipate Sunday, three days after she was taken to the hospital. 

Page Murray, a freshman majoring in game development and interactive design, was also in the Fish Tank the early morning of April 13. When they left around 1 a.m., Murray said, they were experiencing some of the same symptoms as Walker. 

“I had a bit of a headache and I was having a lot of trouble focusing,” Murray said, “Which is weird for me because … I’m used to doing work in a loud environment, but I just couldn’t focus on anything. I was getting overwhelmed by the noise and … My stomach was off and I was a little woozy. And I remember thinking I’m glad that I’m walking back to my dorm with someone because I felt very weak and unsteady.” 

Murray attended class the next morning, but not in the basement. Over the course of that class, they said, they and their classmates were given inadequate and conflicting information as to what had caused their sickness. 

“We were seeing updates mostly on Discord from Gordon [Bellamy, professor of the practice of cinematic arts] and from [Benson], who runs the front desk of the building, and some other professors,” Murray said. “There was a lot of confusion on what was going on and a lot of inconsistent information about what was the cause of it and what was being done until eventually we got an all-clear without a real explanation of what was behind it.” 

Chris Raymundo, a freshman majoring in game development and interactive design, said he thought he caught a cold during a Monday night session in the Fish Tank. However, his symptoms went away after leaving the Tank and heading to sleep. When he heard that the Tank continued to smell on Tuesday night, he realized that his assumed cold was a symptom of chemical exposure. 

“[It’s] just kind of disappointing that they’ve had a person be sent to the hospital multiple times and they have yet to resolve the issue,” Raymundo said. “It’s also very scary for all of us, all of the games students who are in classes, usually in the Tank in the basement, who are exposed to the fumes, even outside in the hallway. It’s just very concerning and also disappointing.” 

Shannon Kilbride, a sophomore majoring in interactive entertainment, said she did not initially experience any symptoms until the morning of April 13, but, on Tuesday night, her symptoms appeared more immediately. 

“On Tuesday I had a class in the basement,” Kilbride said. “During that class, I just started not feeling well. I was very tired and I had a bit of a headache … And then I heard news that the [smell] was back again and that DPS was not solving the situation.”

Avrith said they decided to call DPS again when their friends began experiencing symptoms while in the Fish Tank Tuesday night. 

On Wednesday afternoon, Walker received a report from Claudia Gonzalez, facilities manager at SCA, identifying the chemical as a hydrocarbon mixture named “Cherry Flow,” which was made for use in drains as an emulsifier flow improver. The report also said that the chemical can cause respiratory irritation. 

“Store in original container,” the report read. “Keep containers tightly closed in a dry, cool and well-ventilated place.”

The University wrote in a statement to the Daily Trojan Thursday that “Facilities and Planning Management has been working on ongoing odor issues in the basement of the School of Cinematic Arts building,” and that “they are doing all they can to fix the issues and to protect the health and safety of our community.”

As to Walker’s claim that she was taken to a hospital without her explicit request, the University wrote that it was common practice for DPS to “call paramedics if a student, faculty or staff member reports respiratory or other issues.” It declined to discuss specifics, writing it was “unable to discuss health information about any individual students because of health and student privacy laws.” 

Walker expressed concern that the University could ignore toxic chemicals in a school building for such an extended period of time. 

“I don’t understand how, as somebody who works operations, after there’s reports of chemical fumes, why you wouldn’t call anyone else to fix it, or why you wouldn’t shut the building down or tell anyone,” Walker said.