Herndon, Ky.-An anhydrous ammonia tank leak ?Çô apparently caused by an aborted methamphetamine theft attempt at a farm supply center in this rural western Kentucky town early Oct. 29 ?Çô caused the evacuation of nearly 600 youngsters at an elementary school and about a dozen homes within a half-mile of the scene. Some of the students were at school at 6 a.m. when the alert was sounded and were bused to a high school football stadium about 15 minutes away, while most of the others en route were detoured to the stadium, according to school district spokeswoman Regan Honeycutt. She said the students were held at the stadium until around 11 a.m. while EPA and emergency responders checked out the school and found no signs of ammonia. By mid-day the alert was called off, so the students and residents returned to their homes. At least six people who reportedly complained of sore throats and breathing problems were treated with oxygen by paramedics. The evacuation was touched off by the ammonia leak from a 13,000-gallon tank at Agri-Chem Inc., where authorities found signs that culprits had attempted a break-in and had left the scene in a hurry. There was no indication how much ammonia was released, but Agri-Chem official Wayne Hunt told the local press, “They cut the chain link fence and then they cut the chains on the valves. They left their hose and tools there. I’m assuming they got hit hard because we found their clothes in the field.” Eric Bleidt, Hopkinsville Fire Department, reported, “A lot of valves were tampered with, so we’ve turned over the investigation to the proper authorities and it’s being treated as a criminal case.”
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