
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 19, 1993                   TAG: 9306190115
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: PEARISBURG                                LENGTH: Short

CELCO ILLNESSES BEING STUDIED

Hoechst-Celanese and the state Department of Health are investigating what caused eight workers for a subcontractor to become ill Thursday afternoon, apparently after drinking water.

Steve Wachnowski, environmental health and safety utilities manager for Celco, said the employees "experienced some physical discomforts," and later were examined at Giles Memorial Hospital.

Celco, the contractor and the Health Department are investigating, Wachnowski said. He declined to identify the subcontractor or what type work it was doing.

Lowell Hartley of the Health Department office in Christiansburg said the state Office of Water Resources was collecting samples to test for bacteria or chemical in the water. No one would say where the water the workers drank came from.

by CNB