Posted: Wednesday, July 22, 2015
No one required medical treatment from the incident, Lynchburg Fire officials said.
The plant, at 2801 Fort Avenue,
resumed operations a few hours later, said Allison McGee, a spokeswoman
for The Kroger Company, which owns the dairy.
“The release of ammonia is
thought to have been caused when a line was cut by contractors upgrading
the refrigeration system,” she said in an email.
Hazardous materials team Capt.
Russell Asycue said dispatchers received the call regarding the leak at
about 2:54 p.m. The 60 employees were evacuated from the plant to the
cemetery across the street.
Fort Avenue was closed between Wadsworth Street and Oakley Avenue during the incident.
HAZMAT teams from Westover Dairy and Lynchburg Fire Department worked to turn off the valves bookending the leak.
Asycue described the ammonia
system used in the plant as similar to Freon inside a refrigerator. The
liquid ammonia works as a coolant but once leaked, turns into a gas.
Exposure to am-monia gas can cause coughing, chest pain, difficulty
breathing, collapse and shock.
A ventilation system in the plant
was used to evacuate the gas. Once air quality returned to a safe level
inside and outside, employees were allowed to return — a little more
than an hour after the leak was reported.
McGee said some employees went home at the end of their shift but no employee or contrac-tor needed medical attention.
Lynchburg’s HAZMAT team and fire department responded to the scene. Lynchburg Police were on scene to direct traffic.
The last reported ammonia leak at Westover Dairy was in June 2008.