Boonville, Ark.-At least 1,000 residents in a five mile radius – 25 percent or more of the town’s total population – were evacuated because of concerns over the release of 40,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia during the fire and explosion that ravaged the Cargill meat-packing plant here March 23., county emergency response officials confirmed. Their spokeswoman, Nita Roper, told Green Markets that some of the residents were out of their homes until late on March 24, when a hazardous materials team was sent into the smoldering plant by Cargill to drain the plant refrigeration system. Roper reported that both EPA and state air quality monitors had detected no outdoor signs of the ammonia. Two tanks with 100,000 pounds of carbon dioxide were found blackened but intact. Most of those who had to leave their homes went to stay with friends or family. A shelter was set up in a local church and then later at the senior citizen center, but other arrangements had to be made for 80 individuals from a nursing home and another 15 from an assisted living location, some of whom were transported in ambulances. Cargill spokesman Mark Klein said certified technicians drained 22,000 of the 40,000 pounds of ammonia into a tanker truck for re-use later. Most of the remainder probably stayed in the system, with piping from the tanks running all throughout the plant. Fire was still smoldering early in the week at the plant, which employs about 800 as an economic lifeline in this community. Klein said the operations are closed Sundays, but about 20 contractors and a few other employees were at the site at the time of the fire. According to some reports it was not a total loss, with one addition, built at a cost of $10 million, suffering little damage. Company officials are expected to be on the scene shortly to assess the situation, and there was no word as yet on rebuilding.
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