Howard County officials plan to reopen the Savage library branch on Thursday, saying tests and inspections found no confirmed sources of carbon monoxide in the building after several employees reported exposure to the gas last month.

However, some library employees and union representatives are not convinced that the 34-year-old branch in Laurel is safe.

The Savage Branch abruptly closed on Nov. 20 after several employees reported feeling sick and at least two wound up in the emergency room, where they say they were diagnosed with carbon monoxide poisoning.

Library staffers had reported smelling gas in the days before the library was shut down.

Since the closure, officials say, the county Department of General Services and several partners, including Baltimore Gas and Electric, the county’s fire marshal’s office and HVAC contractors, have inspected the building.

“There is no confirmed source of carbon monoxide (CO) in the building,” Samantha Cobb, the county’s general services director, said in a statement. “Testing has not identified the presence or any source of CO.”

Savage Branch employees were told they would need to return to work on Wednesday to prepare for Thursday’s 9 a.m. reopening. Library system officials met with employees and union leaders on Tuesday afternoon.

Megan Royden, president of the Howard County library union and an instructor and research specialist at the Miller Branch, said the Savage Branch should not reopen until all questions are answered.

“Savage staff are scared, terrified and anxious. I can’t blame them. I feel the same exact way,” Royden said.

Royden said the staff raised a lot of questions at Tuesday’s meeting and left with few if any answers.

“Why is this being rushed? The safety of staff and customers falls on the library administration,” Royden said.

Howard County library workers voted overwhelmingly to form a union in February 2024. The union, representing more than 200 county library employees across the system’s six branches, is part of AFSCME Maryland Council 3.

County general services officials toured the branch with library leaders on Dec. 4 to “demonstrate the efforts taken to ensure the safety of the building and to answer any remaining questions,” Cobb said.

Carbon monoxide is a gas that has no odor, taste or color, according to the Mayo Clinic. It’s a byproduct of burning fuels and can build up to dangerous levels when appliances or engines aren’t well vented. Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs when it accumulates in the blood, and it can cause tissue damage or even death. Those exposed to carbon monoxide should get fresh air and seek medical care immediately, the clinic advises.

Dr. Shannon Graf, chair of the emergency medicine department at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital, said carbon monoxide exposures are seen more frequently in the winter because of house heating systems starting up and fireplaces being lit. However, Graf said such exposure can happen at any point in the year.

“A lot of the time you are exposed to it, you don’t know right away,” Graf said. “The presenting signs and symptoms are nonspecific. Typically it begins with a headache, then it may progress to dizziness or feeling lightheaded, and some people present with nausea, vomiting or confusion.”

Once someone removes themselves from the exposed area and gets outside to “normal air” it can be enough to get rid of the carbon monoxide symptoms, Graf said.

If patients are brought to an emergency room, a blood gas test is administered to determine how much carbon monoxide is in their blood. Sometimes those patients are put on oxygen to reverse the symptoms.

Lauren Colón, an assistant customer supervisor at the Savage Branch who went to the emergency room after feeling shaky and confused on Nov. 18 and was told she had been exposed to carbon monoxide, remained anxious about returning to work.

At Tuesday’s meeting, she said, someone asked, “What happens if none of us feel safe going back into work tomorrow?”

“There was no answer,” Colón said. “I can confidently say no one feels safe going in tomorrow.”

Colón said she was asked by the library’s human resources director to provide proof that she had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning. Christie Lassen, a library system spokesperson, said in a statement that such documents are required by the county’s risk management office for workers’ compensation claims.

Library officials told branch employees on Tuesday that an indoor air quality company had run tests over the weekend, according to Lassen.

Cobb said the county installed 21 carbon monoxide/gas detectors at the Savage Branch last month because of the concerns reported by branch staff.

Colón said sensors went off shortly after they were installed, leading to the branch’s evacuation and closure “until further notice.”

Despite the lingering staff worries, Lassen said in a statement that “the branch will reopen for regular hours beginning this Thursday.”

Members of the library’s executive team were to be on site at the branch Wednesday and Thursday to help with the reopening.

“We are making the admin be there on Thursday to answer questions to the public,” Colón said.

While the county government maintains and owns all of its library offices and branches, the library system determines the operating hours of branches.

“It’s unacceptable to put the safety of our patrons and our members at risk,” said Stuart Katzenberg, director of collective bargaining and growth for AFSCME Maryland Council 3.

He stressed that it’s “the responsibility of the employer to keep our members safe and they continue to fail.”

Of library leaders, Katzenberg said, “the lack of their honesty and answers makes it very clear they don’t care about membership.”