19 Sickened by Fumes After Pump at Bleach Plant Malfunctions
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At least 19 people were treated for breathing problems and one was hospitalized Friday after a pump in a Santa Fe Springs bleach manufacturing plant broke down, spilling liquid chlorine and releasing a toxic cloud.
Workers at the All Pure Chemical Co. on Pike Street were mixing chlorine with sodium hydroxide in a 5,000-gallon tank to make household bleach when the pump malfunctioned, said Dave Klunk, a hazardous-materials specialist with the Santa Fe Springs Fire Department.
“When the chlorine gas was released, a yellowish-green cloud drifted away,” Klunk said.
Most of those who got sick worked for Crockett Container, a corrugated box plant nearby on Norwalk Boulevard. Plant manager Joe Ryniak said 16 people from the plant were treated at hospitals and released. Three people from another nearby plant were also treated and released.
A spokesman for Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital in Whittier said that one unidentified man had been admitted with breathing problems.
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