Warrensburg, Ill.-The Van Horn Fertilizer plant near here is blaming a faulty valve for the release of 6,120 gallons of anhydrous ammonia the morning of Sept. 25 that closed a nearby highway and caused the evacuation of more than a dozen residents. Plant Manager Greg Henne told Green Markets that a pump was being changed on the 10,000-gallon tank when the valve “blew on us.” Henne said the employee involved in the changeover escaped without injuries, but the lack of wind allowed the ammonia cloud to build around the area. Warrensburg Fire Chief Keith Hackl said emergency crews had to contend with the dense cloud when they arrived on the scene along with a Hazmat team from Macon County Emergency Management. Henne said the tank, which was 70 percent full at the time, had just about emptied its contents by the time Hazmat crews put on protective suits and moved cautiously through the vapor screen to shut off the ammonia. Another incident occurred two days earlier at Millstadt, Ill., when an aborted theft attempt at Handy Fertilizer Inc. caused the release of 4,000 to 4,500 pounds of anhydrous ammonia and forced as many as 100 nearby residents from their homes. Handy owner Bob Quirin told Green Markets that thieves got the cap off the tank and opened the valve before fleeing the scene. Quirin said calm weather with no wind kept the vapor cloud from dispersing and prevented efforts to shut off the tank before it was emptied. “We couldn’t tell where the tank was or where the fumes were coming from,” Quirin reported. Emergency crews shut down the highway and had homes in three subdivisions and other areas evacuated as a precaution. Two or three individuals were evaluated at a local hospital and released. Fire Chief Kurt Pellmann said the decision was made early the next morning to call off the alert after Hazmat monitors indicated the fumes had subsided and conditions had returned to normal. Highway traffic was also allowed to resume.
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