Chlorine Leak Sends Two to the Hospital

A chlorine leak at a Caldwell parish water plant caused quite a scare Wednesday afternoon. A valve broke loose spewing chlorine gas in the face of a worker. That spill happening just after 1:30 Wednesday afternoon at a water treatment plant about five miles outside of Columbia. A control operator was making a routine change when he took an unexpected dose of chlorine gas to the face. He checked out fine, but were told the effects of that blow could have been much worse. The control operator at the Caldwell Parish water treatment plant went to work to do his job just like any other day. All water systems have chlorine gas tanks. The gas is injected into the water supply. Once the cylinder is empty it has to be changed out. Dale Powell, Homeland Security Director, says “The operator of all the systems has to change these cylinders over and normally it works fine. Occasionally you get an incident like this but not many." That rare incident happened when the plant operator was replacing the valve on one of the tanks. The valve wasnt secure and blew chlorine into his face. It also released one to five pounds of gas into the atmosphere. "It began leaking and of course he ran immediately and got out,” but Powell says not before “he got a whiff of it." The worker then drove himself to the hospital and was fine, but that exposure could cause severe blisters on the skin. It could also be hazardous to the lungs and lead to pneumonia. The area was secure several hours after the spill. A hazmat team member was on the scene when we arrived and another had to be called in from Monroe to meet state regulations to go inside the building. "As soon as we get two persons suited up in level a suits they can go in and take the cylinders out and close up the valve,” Powell says, “thatll be the end of the incident." The plant secretary was also exposed to the gas. She too was taken to the hospital and released a short time later. The street leading up to the plant was closed off while the hazmat teamed worked to contain the leak. No one else nearby was in extreme danger, so evacuations were not necessary. (Copyright 2008, NBC 10/Fox 14 News)