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By Miriam Raftery
Reported incident may be a hoax, but workers in the field are urged not to accept water or food from strangers
July 21, 2023 – A flyer with SDG&E’s logo circulating on Facebook claims two workers for a local flagging company during extreme heat were given water bottles by a stranger. “Apparently, the water bottles were laced with Fentanyl. Sadly, one of the flaggers died and the other is in critical condition after ingesting the water,” the flyer headlined “Non-SDG&E Contractor Incident Alert” states.
However, SDG&E spokesman Alex Welling told ECM, “We have been working on this since yesterday and we cannot verify the information. We sent out an alert to contractors; this is true. But after further information we have been unable to verify the source.”
ECM has reached out to the County Medical Examiner to ask if any deaths have come through their office involving fentanyl-laced water provided to any contractor’s employee, but have not yet received a reply.
If the rumor is untrue, it's troubling to contemplate why someone would make up a such a malicious story.
Welling indicated that SDG&E has notified labor unions and asked that the flyers be taken down. However, even if the story proves untrue, as a precaution, Welling advises, “The safety message remains the same.”
He recommends that anyone working in the field for SDG&E or any other contractor should “bring your own food, bring your own water” and should not accept food, drinks, or any other items from strangers.
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