A ROAD was closed and a cordon put in place after a chemical leak at an engineering company in Lakeside, Redditch.

The incident happened just after 6pm on Sunday night.

Concerned residents living near Samuel Taylor Ltd in Arthur Street had reported the incident, which involved a leak of liquid nitrogen from a large tank at the premises. Two fire crews attended along with a Hazmat (Hazardous Materials) officer, the Incident Response Unit from Droitwich and the Environmental Protection Unit from Stourport. Police also attended.

Station commander Steve Fox from Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service said: “We arrived to find a large liquid nitrogen tank venting at the base, with the liquefied gas producing a fog or vapour cloud in the cold night air.

“We liaised closely with the owners of the factory as we assessed the level of risk, and set up a road closure and a cordon around the premises as a precautionary measure.

A HOSPITAL building resumed normal operation last night after a chemical false alarm caused an evacuation.

A building at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh was emptied after a leaking container of dry ice was found.

The alarm was raised when the milk bottle-sized container was found in a fridge. It appears the lid was not securely fastened, allowing the smoke-like gas to escape from the bottle. The building was cleared for around an hour while firefighters investigated.

A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were called to a report of a chemical incident. When we arrived, we found a bottle of liquid nitrogen which a member of staff had put in a fridge.

“The bottle was inspected and appeared to be in a safe condition, so it was handed back to hospital staff.”

JOHNSON COUNTY, Tenn. -- An early morning accident caused massive amounts of liquid nitrogen to leak into the atmosphere.
News 5 was on the scene Friday morning to get the facts. We discovered it happened around 4:30 a.m. in Johnson County, near the Trade community on Highway 421.
Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers tell us a tanker carrying 45,000 pounds of liquid nitrogen sideswiped a tractor-trailer.
The Johnson County Hazmat team was on the scene and said all of the nitrogen vaporized. They stopped traffic and evacuated one nearby home for several hours.

Fire and emergency crews shut down an on-ramp to Interstate 65 South in Nashville on Tuesday morning after they found several steaming canisters with a foul odor. HAZMAT officials were able to determine that the canisters contained bull semen, which had fallen off a Greyhound bus, according to WKRN.

Officials traced the containers to Greyhound after finding bus tickets on the ground.  The bus did not know it lost its load and had continued on. Authorities called Greyhound, who, after speaking with the driver the bus, determined the canisters were filled with straws of frozen sperm packed in liquid nitrogen.

The load originated in Columbus, Ohio and was en route to a breeding facility in Laredo, Texas. Canisters, such as the ones spilled across the interstate typically carry between 300 and 400 straws, each containing one-milliliter of sperm.

A corroded tanker truck potentially carrying liquid nitrogen caused officials to evacuate the I-5 Federal Way weigh station Wednesday afternoon.

The truck pulled into the weigh station around noon and state patrol inspectors spotted corrosion on the exterior of the truck.

They immediately ordered an evacuation of the immediate area and called in hazardous materials crews.

Troopers said the plaque on the tanker denoted it was carrying liquid nitrogen, but they are still trying to determine how much, if any, of the substance is in the truck.

MILLCREEK, Salt Lake County, Utah — Shortly after 8 a.m. Sunday, Hazmat crews responded to a liquid nitrogen leak at the Tandem Labs building at 1121 East 3900 South in Millcreek.

A 6000-gallon tank of the substance sprung a leak, causing fire authorities to close down parts of 1100 East, although authorities say it isn't a safety issue.

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"We're just gonna keep people out of the area until we get this remedied," said Capt. Cliff Burningham with the Unified Fire Authority.

The nitrogen lowers oxygen levels in the laboratory, so crews are taking all necessary precautions.

"You'll notice that the firefighters are in their full turnout gear and also their self contained breathing apparattuses," said Capt. Burningham. "That protects their respiratory drive so they can be in that environment where there's low oxygen concentrations."

The leak was first notified by Unified Fire Authority officers who were out in the area today.

"They arrived, the first arriving unit, and found the steam and vapor coming from the storage doors of a laboratory," said Capt. Burningham.

Officials don't know what caused the leak and plan to let the liquid nitrogen supplier handle the situation, saying they are best-equiped.