A chlorine leak sent the North Metro Chemical Assessment Team to the city of Coon Rapids east water treatment plant on Dogwood Street early Monday morning.
Two members of the North Metro Chemical Assessment Team donned hazardous materials suits to enter the city of Coon Rapids’ east water treatment plant early Monday morning to turn off valves to stop a chlorine leak. Photo: Coon Rapids Fire Department

Two members of the North Metro Chemical Assessment Team donned hazardous materials suits to enter the city of Coon Rapids’ east water treatment plant early Monday morning to turn off valves to stop a chlorine leak. Photo: Coon Rapids Fire Department

An automatic alarm alerted the on-call city of Coon Rapids public works employee of the chlorine leak about 5 a.m. and the Coon Rapids Fire Department was called in.

According to Fire Chief John Piper, two members of the chemical assessment team, comprising firefighters from the Coon Rapids, Fridley and Spring Lake Park-Blaine-Mounds View (SBM), that responded put on hazardous materials suits and went into the water treatment plant to turn off the valves to both chlorine tanks and both sulfur dioxide tanks.

The treatment plant’s scrubber system removed the chlorine, Piper said.

According to Rick Bednar, city utilities operations supervisor, the leak was caused by a loose fitting.

A major fire broke out in a godown in Navi Mumbai’s Turbhe area on Wednesday morning. The incident took place at the Central Warehousing Corporation godown in Sector 20. The fire also led to a chemical leak in the area.

Fire officials said they received a call around 10 am on Wednesday, after which fire tenders were rushed to the spot. “The employees escaped when the fire broke. We tried dousing the flames as fast as we could,” said a fire official.

The official said while they were trying to douse the flames, bystanders began coughing while some complained of respiratory problems.

“It was then that we inquired and realised that sulphur was stored on the premises. We got trucks filled with sand to douse the flames and told bystanders not to stand close to the godown,” the officer said.

The fire was extinguished five hours after it broke out. Four persons who were standing close to the area were rushed to the Navi Mumbai Municipal Hospital in Vashi after they complained of respiratory problems.

Doctors at the hospital said while the condition of those who were rushed to the hospital is stable, they are suffering from eye infections, coughs and breathing problems as a result of inhaling the sulphur dioxide fumes.

DELAWARE CITY, Del. — Less than a month after a power failure caused the release of hazardous chemicals at the Delaware City Refinery here, another release has been reported.

According to radio station WDEL-AM, the incident took place early Thursday morning at the refinery located directly across the Delaware river from Salem City.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control says the refinery released 100 gallons of sulfur dioxide into the air.

On Nov. 27 a power outage at the refinery resulted in A power failure prompted the activation of incinerator towers that lit up the night sky with large flame plumes and caused rumblings heard as far east as Elmer.

12Newsnow.com has learned that a shelter in place was established for 3 area schools and area neighborhoods near a plant in Port Arthur due to a chemical leak. The leak was at the Total Refinery Plant in Port Arthur. The leak occurred at approximately 9:53 AM this morning at the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit.

A visual plume was seen. The refinery is conducting joint air quality with local fire departments.

Sulfur dioxide was released into the air at the plant forcing the shelter in place. The shelter in place has since been canceled. An alert was also released through the STAN (Southeast Texas Alert Network).

A chemical fire caused residential evacuations in south suburban Dixmoor tonight, officials said.

A hazardous materials response was called to Rhodia's Dixmoor plant after sulfur in an outdoor storage tank caught fire, according to a release from the Dixmoor Fire Department.

The plant, in the 14000 block of Seeley Avenue, produces soap.

The fire occurred at 4:30 p.m. and nearby homes and people from nearby homes and a business were evacuated 90 minutes later, according to the fire department.

The fire produced sulfur dioxide vapor, a respiratory irritant, according to the department.

The cause of the fire isn't clear but the plant was shut down for scheduled maintenance when the fire broke out.

ALLENTOWN — Emergency personnel responded to the municipal sewage plant Monday night after a water pipe broke, causing another pipe and valve to fail spraying sulfur dioxide inside a secured room on the site, according to the fire marshal.

Firefighters initially responded around 8:30 p.m. on Monday after an alarm was tripped by a broken pipe spraying water inside a containment room at the sewage plant which lead to a pipe containing the sulfur dioxide to break and contaminate the room, Fire Marshal Dennis Symons said.

The Monmouth County HazMat team responded and the situation was under control and cleared by about 12:30 a.m Tuesday morning, Symons said.

AT least 10 Metropolitan Fire Brigade units were called to contain a chemical spill at a North Sunshine industrial site last Friday.
The units were called to Air Liquide's Bunnett Street site at 8.56am to deal with sulphur dioxide spilling from a 15-tonne tank. An MFB spokesman said the spill was brought under control within two hours. "A sulphur dioxide spill on a wet day is taken very seriously indeed," he said.

Inhaling sulphur dioxide has been associated with increased respiratory symptoms and disease, breathing difficulty and, in extreme cases, death.

Hazmat units attended and air quality was tested to ensure employees and surrounding businesses and residents were safe. "We don't believe it was a major airborne hazard that required a mass evacuation," the spokesman said.

The remaining sulphur dioxide was transferred to another tank. No injuries were reported. Air Liquide did not reply before the Weekly went to print.

A report of a hazardous materials leak sent the Kennewick Fire Department to Kennewick’s Oak Street Industrial Park at 4:20 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

The leak of sulfur dioxide, a heavier than air gas used in processing wine corks, happened at CorkTec, 1426 E. 3rd Ave.

“The gas is a bio corrosive meaning it’s hazardous to people,” said Battalion Chief Mike Barnett.

Sulfer dioxide is commonly used to clean equipment used in wine making. CorkTec uses the gas when sealing bags of wine corks.

“The vessel had a loose top which allowed the gas to leak,” Barnett said, adding that “the two workers evacuated the building and called 911.”

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Potentially dangerous chemical fumes at the Lucite International plant near Millington led to the evacuation of businesses and residences along Highway 51 and Fite Road Tuesday morning.

The Lucite plant, which is next to the Dupont plant, started fuming a vapor mix of sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide, which reacts with moisture in the air to create a dense sulfuric acid mist. Sulfur trioxide can be harmful if ingested or inhaled, and can also cause skin and severe eye irritation on contact.

Plant spokesman Tom Eubanks said there was not a chemical leak, but referred to the situation as "a fuming condition" as the sulfuric acid regeneration plant was started up.

The Shelby County Fire Department and HAZMAT teams were called in to assist.

Several businesses along Highway 51 between Fite Road and the Loosahatchie River in about a one mile radius were evacuated until emergency crews safely cleared the scene.

KINGS MILLS, Ohio -- A HazMat crew was called to the scene of a sulfur dioxide leak at the old Peters Cartridge Company factory near Kings Mills Tuesday night.
Firefighters were dispatched to the site located in the 1400 block of Grandin Road above the Little Miami River around 5:30 p.m.
Someone called to report what they thought was smoke coming from a business inside the old munitions factory.
When Hamilton Township firefighters arrived, they quickly realized the smoke was actually a cloud of sulfur dioxide.

HAMILTON TWP. — Authorities said a leaking compressed gas tank late this afternoon, March 16, caused a road to shut down and four firefighters to need medical attention.
Hamilton Twp. Fire Chief Mark Greatorex said the tank was leaking sulfur dioxide which caused noxious, malodorous smoke and vapor to emanate from a storage building at the former gun powder factory, now known as the Kings Mills Commerce Park, 1409 Grandin Road.
Firefighters initially responded at 5:11 p.m. By 8:20 p.m., the area was secure, according to a witness at the scene. Grandin Road reopened around 9 p.m.
A Cincinnati area hazardous materials team responded at about 5:25 p.m. after firefighters determined there was no fire and that the source of the smoke appeared to be chemical.