Chemical leak at Jennie-O feed mill prompts evacuation

Precautionary shelter-in-place was issued after incident at Barron, Wisconsin facility

2 Lisa Selfie December 2020 Headshot
PIXABAY
PIXABAY

A chemical leak occurred atJennie-Ofeed mill located in Barron County, Wisconsin, Monday morning. Jennie-O is a subsidiary ofHormel Foods.

According to thesheriff's department, at 9:27 a.m. on October 31, the Jennie-O Plant in Barron reported a chemical leak at its main plant feed mill location.

上任后,急救人员在进行了一次一个ssessment and determined that two chemicals, anatox and lysine, had been accidentally mixed together and were off-gassing a poisonous vapor into the atmosphere.

Jennie-O had immediately evacuated the facility to protect employees against inhalation hazards.

Shelter-in-place issued

Emergency responders enacted a precautionary shelter-in-place on the north side of the plant that encompassed the Barron County Highway Department and Riverview Terrace Estates.

A precautionary shelter-in-place was also issued on the south side of the plant, from Hwy 8 to LaSalle Ave, beginning at 6th Street and extending to 11th Street. This also included a detour of Hwy 8 as an added safety measure.

Afternoon weather patterns assisted in keeping the chemical vapor mostly within the Jennie-O property. Air monitoring of the surrounding neighborhoods was continually being conducted by the Barron Fire Department to ensure public safety.

At approximately 11:30 a.m., Jennie-O plant representatives and emergency responders determined the chemical mixture posed no further danger to public health, at which time the shelters-in-place were lifted and Hwy 8 was reopened.

Two employees drove themselves to local hospitals to be examined. No other injuries were reported.

An investigation is ongoing.

Fire at facility in 2019

A fire broke out at this same feed mill facility inSeptember 2019.The fire began in part of the structure housing the grain tower on the Jennie-O property. No injuries were reported at that time.

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