The Russellville Drive In has the green light to reopen following a failed health inspection Aug. 31.
The inspection noted multiple sanitation violations at the restaurant that prompted the Cole County Health Department to close the business Tuesday. Violations included a soft-serve machine that was not being sanitized, improperly stored food, some food items being held at improper temperatures, several dirty surfaces and containers, an unlabeled chemical spray bottle in the kitchen, and mice feces on back storage room shelves.
The health department conducted a follow-up inspection and approved the facility to reopen for business as of 4:10 p.m. on Wednesday, said Environmental Health Public Specialist Chris White.
The health inspection came days after four teenage employees were hospitalized for what the Russellville-Lohman Fire Protection District believes to have been carbon monoxide exposure inside the restaurant.
EMS officials tested the employees for carbon monoxide poisoning on the scene Saturday, and all four tested positive, Fire Chief Chris Cinotto said. They received oxygen in the ambulance and were transported to a local hospital for further treatment. When hospital personnel tested them for carbon monoxide poisoning again, all four teenagers' levels had returned to normal, Cinotto said the teenagers' parents had told him.
When they investigated the building, the fire department's detectors were reading about 6 parts per million (the standard measurement for carbon monoxide) in the kitchen - not a number that typically would concern him, as he usually would begin considering evacuation at around 9 parts per million, Cinotto said.
Most people do not experience any symptoms from prolonged carbon monoxide exposure at levels of 1 to 70 parts per million, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission website.
Kevin Grace, who has owned and operated Russellville Drive In since June 2013, told the News Tribune he had the building inspected Tuesday for carbon monoxide as well as any problems with gas lines, and the inspections found nothing abnormal.