Crews working on cleanup after gas leak at Central Kentucky Toyota plant causes evacuation
Portions of the Toyota Motor Manufacturing plant in Georgetown were evacuated Monday morning for an emergency situation caused by a gas leak, local officials say.
The situation was declared “under control and neutralized” around 1:15 p.m., according to Michael Hennigan, the Scott County Emergency Management director.
A crew was sent back to Toyota around 3:36 p.m. to oversee the removal of contaminated water. He said as soon as this is completed, operations will resume as normal.
He added that today’s second shift at the plant is delayed by two hours, but Tuesday morning shifts will continue as scheduled.
Emergency crews were called out to the scene because of a chemical contamination within the plant after a tanker truck hooked up to an incorrect port, Hennigan said.
He said about 80 pounds of product got into the wrong port and the two chemicals caused a gas to be released into the air. The gas smelled like chlorine but was actually a nitric acid.
“They realized it quickly and were able to shut the flow off,” he said. “We are in the process of neutralization right now which will be done with about 3,000 gallons of water. That should take care of it.”
One person who was in the room at the time of the incident was sent to the hospital as a precautionary measure, Hennigan said. Hennigan expects the employee to be unharmed.
This story was originally published August 15, 2022 at 11:43 AM.
