I have been living in an apartment since late 2025 and the last month had been significaly hot so we opted to leave windows open to avoid running the AC all day. I live in a corner unit within the inside of the apartment complex.
In those two weeks, I developed a headache, cough, irritated throat, and phlegm. I thought I was catching a cold or something similar, but we had smelled gasses from the pipes by the windows and we didn’t think it was related until everyone in the apartment had the same symptoms and realization of the smell.
SDGE was contacted and they came out. They used a tool to measure PPM of Carbon Monoxide coming from the pipe and it was determined that 700 PPM of CO was coming out of the source and a strong smell of aldehyde. They documented the issue as “unsatisfactory conditions” and that the pipes should be atleast 3ft above the roof line to allow proper dispersion (I was given a copy of the notice and the apartment was also provided one).
The leasing office said that “they have already modified the boiler and it’s within code compliance”. I talked to my next door neighbors and they had ALSO emailed the leasing office in 2025 about the same issue and were giving the same excuse.
I had contacted San Diego district of air pollution to further investigate. Nothing besides pictures were taken and the only thing being referenced is the mechanical code of 2022 saying “vents need to be 3 ft from windows”. I live in a corner unit, pipe is 70 inches from my balcony and the smell circulates and it causes irritation. The issue was then escalated to HazMat, but when I called they said HazMat determined that they can’t do anything about this and no reason was provide so I was told contact DEH (no answer from them either in a week of email or calling)
The leasing office had their plumber look at the issue (as if that the right person for the job?) and then installed a 6ft pvc pipe facing the opposite way from my balcony, yet that didn’t fix the issue that the gases from the exhaust pipes were still circulating here. For reference the building I’m in has atleast 200 units and the 3 exhaust pipes for the boilers are ALL located next to my unit and underneath neighbors living room window.
There’s this cones on the pipes that the maintenance guy try to tell me “filter” the air that comes out of there which the cones don’t have filters and are just there so debris and rain can’t get in. He said said that the gasses I see coming out is vapor and not dangerous gasses. Ugh, I’m not stupid… the boiler literally says “gas type: natural gasses” so yes I’m being exposed to irritants whenever those pipes go off, which is about every 2-3 minutes (lasting 2-3 minutes) all day everyday so 20-30 times in a hour.
I’ve been back and forth with the leasing office and my community manager said that their contractors and plumbers and maintenance techs have looked at the pipes for the 3rd time and installed a pvc pipe (which has now been completely removed as of yesterday when I noticed) and that they can’t do anything more and hope that this resolved my problem.
At this point I’m unsure what to do, I’ve CC’d the regional manager, my property manager etc asking for a resolution within 15-30 days, if no solution i want to transfer to another unit or have my lease terminated without penalty due to inhabitability concerns.
I’ve referenced several documents (California Health and Safety Code §17920.3) and the tech manual for the boiler.
As of now I’m reaching out as a last resort to see what else can be done?
I’ve contacted:
Fire department, SDGE, leasing office, corporate office, DEH, SDAPCD, and my cities code of compliance with no help.