WILLIAMSPORT —About 25 people were hit by drifting fungicide Wednesday while a crop duster sprayed a neighboring field.
The group, primarily teens, were detasseling corn on a field owned by Hubner Industries, said Roger Vail, safety manager for the seed production company.
About 50 people were working, but only about half were affected by the drift, according to Neal Wood, the subcontractor who manages the workers.
The affected detasselers were transported in a school bus to St. Vincent Williamsport Hospital, where they were treated outside by a hazardous materials team from the Tippecanoe County Emergency Management Agency and hospital staff. Crews from Warren County Emergency Management and the Williamsport Fire Department also responded to the call.
Five people were admitted to the emergency room for treatment while others were treated in the decontamination area, according to Tudie Kuiper, a spokeswoman for the hospital.
Some teens reported symptoms, including throat, eye and skin irritation, according to hospital staff.
"(But) their symptoms were starting to dissipate already," said Dr. Hector Torres, an emergency physician with St. Vincent.
Each person affected by the fungicide drift has been released, according to Kuiper.
It is unclear why the detasselers were hit with the drift. Staff from Hubner Industries and Tippecanoe County Emergency Management said they did not have information on the owners of the neighboring field nor the crop dusting company.
Pilots typically fly over fields before they begin crop dusting to see if anyone is in the area, Vail said.
"We had a school bus and a lot of kids at our field, and they went ahead and sprayed," he said.
Wood was about 3 miles away when the spraying began.
"When I got there, the guy was still trying to spray the field," he said.
Emily Anderson, 14, was one of the detasselers hit by the drift. The youths waved at the plane to stop, she said.
"They saw us," she said. "(But) they wouldn't stop."
In this video taken by Morgan Summers, a crop duster flies over workers in Warren County.
Her father, Dave Anderson of rural Attica, said his son, Wyatt, 13, also was hit by the fungicide drift.
"I'm absolutely furious," he told the Journal & Courier by phone. "In 20 years, what's the effect?"
Although both of his children were treated and released from St. Vincent, Anderson was not sure he would allow them to return to their detasseling work on the field owned by Hubner Industries.
"They are working and making money, but then again, am I an idiot for putting them back in the same potential situation?" he said.
Some reports of the details of the incident conflict.
Parents have reported on social media that planes flew directly over the field in which the detasselers were working. Wood said the pilot would have flown over the field as part of the dusting, but the plane was not spraying the Hubner field.
Greg Smith, general manager of Hubner Industries, said he was not there to witness the spray, but he confirmed the plane was not hired to spray his company's field.
Avery Oltman, 14, was leading a crew of detasselers when she heard planes flying so close overhead that the noise was as loud as a bulldozer, she said.
"The plane flew right over us, and I noticed that it was spraying something from the back of it. And I was freaking out, because I didn't know if I was going to die," Oltman said.
Immediately after the first dusting, Oltman remembers a second plane flying over and spraying the workers.
Teenagers exposed to fungicide are treated by the Tippecanoe County
Emergency Management Agency Hazardous Materials Response Team's
decontamination unit Wednesday, July 15, 2015, in the parking lot of St.
Vincent Williamsport Hospital.
Wood said that two planes were flying in the area, but only one was spraying close enough to dust the detasselers with fungicide. Smith said he could not confirm the number of planes dusting because he was not on the scene.
After Oltman's co-workers fled the field, they packed onto the school bus that brought them out, she said.
The detasselers were split into two groups, with about half going to the hospital. According to Wood, he told any detasseler dusted in fungicide to go to the hospital.
Oltman said only some teams were sent to the hospital. Her team was sent to another field to finish their shift. As she continued work, her arms began to burn, and when she returned home, her mother took her to St. Vincent for treatment, she said.
She was diagnosed with chemical skin burns, Oltman said. Her arms feel better now, but they still burn.
"It feels like just fire on your arms," she said.
Reporter Taya Flores contributed to this report.