JULY 6, 2016
CARTERET, NJ - A 760 Port Carteret Drive site continues to be monitored following a report of an early morning chemical spill.
Around 2:09 a.m. Tuesday, the Carteret Fire Department responded to 760 Port Carteret Drive in the industrial zone for a report of a chemical spill in a 500,000-square-foot facility operated by Vanguard Logistics Services, according to Mayor Dan Reiman's Facebook posting.
In the posting, Reiman said the property is owned by Freeport McMoRan.
Firefighters found that a chemical storage drum had ruptured and the contents in three other drums had become unstable and were emitting fumes, Reiman said in the posting.
The Carteret Fire Department secured the area and, as a precautionary measure, closed Port Carteret Drive and evacuated the adjacent commercial buildings.
Reiman said the Carteret Fire Department remained at the scene late Tuesday along with representatives of Middlesex County Hazmat and representatives of the state Department of Environmental Protection.
A police monitoring service indicated that the Somerset County Task Force would be deployed to the site from 10 p.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday to continue monitoring the flow of fumes from the drums.
The Carteret Fire Department was currently cooling the drums and area to stabilize the product. Mutual aid from surrounding municipalities also responded to assist.
Several firefighters were taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick for treatment of chemical exposure issues, the mayor said.
Reiman said the Carteret Fire Department reported that the situation was stable and that no danger to residential neighborhoods exists.