– one in intensive care – late last week from among 100 or more who sought help or were affected by the release of as much as 800 gallons of anhydrous ammonia early Monday, Aug. 23, from a refrigeration plant in the Mobile, Ala., area. The release at Millard Refrigerated Services, located near an industrial canal alongside Mobile Bay, was one of a rash of anhydrous incidents in two states.
“We initially believed that 20 to 40 gallons had been released,” Capt. Shaun Hicks, spokesman for Mobile Fire-Rescue, told Green Markets about the Millard situation. “But we upped that to between 400 and 800 gallons.” He said the ammonia release had been stopped by plant personnel by the time emergency crews had arrived. Hicks said a “shelter-in-place” was ordered for a one-mile radius, which included industry and business and an elementary school only a half mile away. Locals were notified by siren or reverse 911. He said since the scene was close to Mobile Bay the U.S. Coast Guard got involved, shutting down the waterway throughout the day until that evening.
“We triaged and transported 52 patients from a remote site set up three miles away by using a service station and its canopies as cover in what was probably 95-degree heat,” Hicks reported. “We took them to five different hospitals. Most of the others probably self-evacuated.” One of those, the University of South Alabama Medical Center, reported at mid-week that they had seen a total of 27 event-related patients. “We had one patient in intensive care and five under observation. The others had been released,” reported spokesman Bob Lawry.
Reports that notifying those in the area was delayed 45 minutes couldn’t be confirmed with Millard officials at the company headquarters in Omaha, or those in charge of emergency responders in Mobile. The OSHA office in Mobile declined comment about press reports that federal authorities were investigating to see whether there was a problem. But Millard CFO Brian Vinchur told the local press the plant was evacuated, the leak located and stopped, and authorities notified within 20 minutes. An alarm inside the plant warned workers of the leak, which was on the roof of a three-story freezer, he said.
A day later in the downtown area of Dalton, Ga., a multi-block restricted zone was set up for approximately half a mile around a Reddy Ice Co. plant area when anhydrous ammonia was released during a maintenance operation. Emergency responders said the timing – just before 6 a.m. – eliminated the need to evacuate the area, particularly in the case of a nearby day-care center. By mid-morning a troublesome valve had been shut off and fans set up to ventilate the building.
Then employees at Rockmart Tip Top Poultry plant in Rockmart, Ga., were evacuated on Wednesday, Aug. 25, after an ammonia leak occurred because of a faulty seal in a valve. The 240 employees walked out of the plant after the leak, which lasted for less than 30 seconds. No other details were available, but 23 patients were reportedly treated at two medical centers.