Anhydrous response at Dow “by the book”

Harbor Beach, Mich.-The anhydrous ammonia leak at the Dow AgroSciences plant here last week was almost a non-event and was brought under control in about 15 minutes, according to the local fire chief. Harbor Beach Fire Chief John Lermont told Green Markets that a hole about the size of a pencil developed around the valve of a 10,000-gallon tank, but he didn’t know the exact cause. “There was a malfunction on a tank and a small leak when something went wrong while they were working on it,” Lermont said. “They have precautionaries set up and a deluge system so everything was contained to the area. Everything worked out fine.” He said the amount that escaped was minimal, but the plant was evacuated as a precautionary move. There were no injuries, but both the department and Dow are still looking into the cause. Lermont said a big part of the reason for the smooth response is that he and his volunteers train regularly with the Dow personnel. “We work with them a lot and are down there almost weekly to train together on their premises with their equipment.” He said most of the training involves the ammonia facility. “We are very familiar with everything they have down there. In this case, everything went as planned,” he added.