An ammonia leak occurred on March 23 at Yara’s Ambès production site, in the Gironde department in southwestern France, according to local media reports, citing a statement from the Gironde prefecture.
Some 14 workers were injured by the ammonia leak, including two “seriously,” one of whom was airlifted to the Bordeaux University Hospital. About 50 firefighters attended the incident.
According to the Gironde prefecture statement, “although the amounts of ammonia that leaked were limited in quantity, the ammonia vapor cloud that formed caused 14 injuries, two of them serious, all working inside the site at the time of the accident.”
Measurements taken around the accident site 30 minutes later did not detect ammonia, the statement read.
The ammonia leak occurred at around 9:45 a.m. local time when a truck was being loaded with liquid ammonia, according to the statement.
Ammonium nitrate (AN) is among the products produced at the Yara Ambès site, which has some 0.5 million mt/y of AN capacity. Yara had yet to respond to Green Markets’ inquiries by press time.
An investigation into the accident has begun.