Parting Gift Sends Sacramento Airport Security Into High Gear

A "little token" of pepper spray passed out at a seminar on public safety this week put real-life public safety to the test at Sacramento International Airport on Wednesday when a canister of the chemical agent apparently leaked at an airline's ticket counter.

Authorities immediately evacuated part of Terminal B1 after the 11:12 a.m. report, grounded flights and began searching for the source of a suspicious odor that irritated the eyes and throats of at least eight people, Sacramento Fire Battalion Chief Niko King said.

No one was hospitalized.

Hazardous materials crews were called in. The Transportation Security Administration and California Homeland Security also were alerted.

Ultimately, King said, the item was never found and the airport resumed service more than an hour later. But when officials later learned that pepper spray was a convention seminar's parting gift, they believed such a canister was their culprit.

"I can guarantee that won't happen again," said Joe Nipper, vice president of the American Public Power Association, whose annual convention for municipal electric utility workers ended Wednesday in Sacramento.

Nipper said an instructor at a seminar called "Street Smarts" gave out "a little token of the presentation" - small canisters of pepper spray, also known as OC spray - to at least 100 attendees at the Hyatt Regency Tuesday morning.

Nipper said event organizers helped pass out the canisters, which were small enough to clip onto a belt or key chain.

"We were told you could carry pepper spray in a checked bag," said Nipper, who did not attend the convention but spoke with a few attendees Wednesday. "And they were very specific about this."

In fact, the TSA does allow up to 4 ounces of pepper spray in checked luggage only. The canisters at the convention held about half an ounce.

Nevertheless, that was apparently enough to test the airport's emergency response and trigger the first evacuation in at least two years, said Karen Doron, spokeswoman for the Sacramento County Airport System, which operates the airport.

At least 200 people were removed from Terminal B1, she said, affecting service at the United Airlines/American depot.

Three United Airlines flights were delayed from 25 minutes to 90 minutes, airline spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said.

No other delays or injuries were reported, but Nipper was upset.

"We are very distressed by the trouble this caused at the airport ... we are certainly very sorry to those folks injured by this," Nipper said. "I can assure you, in hindsight, this was a bad idea."

Bee staff writer Elizabeth Hume contributed to this report.

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