One person recovering from ammonia leak at Schneider plant
Posted May 13, 2014 01:22:49 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
One person is recovering after an ammonia leak at the Schneider’s plant in Kitchener Tuesday afternoon.
A fire official tells 570 News they were taken to hospital to be checked out, and it is not believed their injuries are serious.
Regional Police and Kitchener Fire were called to the plant on Courtland Avenue, blocking off the street from Ottawa Street to Stirling Avenue.
Officials say they were re-charging the air-conditioner which caused the leak. This is a regular procedure.
When the leak was reported, police had residents in the area close their windows and stay inside. Residents were allowed to leave their homes around 4:30 in the afternoon.
Tanya Pratt with the Emergency Response Team at Maple Leaf Foods tells 570 News the leak occurred on the seventh floor in the office towers and was cleared around 2 PM.
Pratt adds “It’s not serious, we had it in a good time and everyone was evacuated in good time.”
Deputy Fire Chief Steve Usher tells 570 News that no one was injured and the ammonia levels were not high enough to cause concern.
“It [ammonia] can be toxic in very high levels. Thankfully we didn’t have those high levels, that would have been a health concern to people today.”
Employees were let back into the building to collect any personal items after everything was cleared.
