Worker collapses, 2 others sickened by Hanover Twp. plant chemical vapor
One worker collapsed and two others were sickened by a chemical vapor Friday night at a food and perfume processing plant in Hanover Township, Northampton County, officials said.
Paramedics and firefighters rushed to Unger & Co. at 110 N. Commerce Way at 3 p.m. after the first worker had trouble breathing, passed out and hit his head, Hanover Township Manager Jay Finnigan said.
"It was discovered that they had a situation where there was a chemical interaction that caused respiratory distress," said Finnigan, who also is the township's deputy emergency coordinator.
A hazardous materials emergency was declared, he said, and 20 workers were evacuated from part of the Unger plant.
County, state and federal officials joined local emergency workers at the plant and worked with Unger officials to track down and repair the equipment malfunction that produced the chemical vapor, Finnigan said.
The emergency was declared over about 6 p.m., he said.
The worker who hit his head and the two other men who inhaled the vapor were taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg for treatment.
Hanover Township, East Allen and Nancy Run fire companies were on the scene, as were local ambulances and representatives of county Emergency Management Services, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Finnigan said he did not know which chemical or chemicals were involved in the incident. Residents downwind of the plant reported smelling the odor, but no one else was injured, he said.
— Frank Warner