Bayer says 2 a.m. horn blasts were boiler alarms, no threat to neighbors

The loud horn that likely woke many people up in West Berkeley at 2 a.m. Monday was a boiler alarm at the Bayer plant, the pharmaceutical company told Berkeleyside. There were several more alarm blasts around 8 a.m., too. None indicated any threat or danger to local residents.

“These alarms are required by state law and, unfortunately, are audible to our neighbors,” said Bayer spokesperson Jennifer Cogley. “We are deeply sorry for the disruption to our neighbors. We understand how distressing it must be to be awoken by these sounds in the middle of the night.”

Steam generation boilers are part of the manufacturing process at the Bayer campus, which, among other things, develops medications for hemophilia A and other blood and bleeding disorders. The alarm is required when a boiler’s operation goes outside of preset levels. Even if the boilers malfunction, there is no risk to the community outside the Bayer facilities, according to Bayer.

While these alarms heard fairly regularly, including during routine testing, they still invariably prompt questions and concerns among local residents. Cogley said Monday’s early-morning blasts fielded several direct inquires from West Berkeley residents.

A few West Berkeley residents also took to Nextdoor to discuss the alarm. One described the sound as, “super loud and kind of scary.” Another wondered why Bayer was not communicating information about the alarms to the community. “Accountability and clarity from Bayer seems appropriate,” they wrote. 

Bayer provides facts about its alarms, as well as contact information, in a fact sheet posted on its website. A resident said Monday morning on Nextdoor they had tried calling one of the phone numbers for Bayer listed on the fact sheet, but the line was busy.

The one-note boiler alarm, which sounds like the blast of an air horn, is distinguished from Bayer’s ammonia alarm which sounds like “a loud wailing noise that slowly alternated between low and high pitch,” and is accompanied by a male voice giving instructions to shelter in place or indicating that the siren is in test mode, according to the company’s website.

An ammonia alarm is of more concern to local residents. Ammonia can pose significant health risks if contact is made or it is inhaled at a concentration above 25 parts per million, according to Bayer’s website. A hazmat team responded to an ammonia leak at Bayer in 2016, but there were no injuries an no ammonia was released into the atmosphere. Bayer conducts biopharmaceutical production at its Berkeley facility and uses ammonia to ensure precise refrigeration

Bayer says it tests its boiler alarm every day at 8:30 a.m and its ammonia alarm at noon on the first Wednesday of each month. (UC Berkeley and the city of Oakland test their outdoor warning systems at noon on first Wednesdays.) 

Residents should ignore Bayer’s test runs, but “If you hear this siren at any time other than noon on the first Wednesday of the month, or if the siren’s verbal message directs you to shelter in place, treat this as an emergency situation,” the company’s website advises. That includes finding indoor shelter, closing doors and windows and turning off thermostats. 

Cogley said that boiler alarms sometimes occur more frequently than normal, and after this most recent incident, Bayer is investigating the root cause triggering the alarm, and “looking into additional measures to minimize how these alarms effect those who live on our perimeter.” 

She added that neighbors of the Bayer plan were, coincidentally, already scheduled to receive a postcard within the next couple of weeks describing the audible notification systems in operation at its site.