Chlorine Scare Plant Evacuation In Detroit

A wastewater treatment plant in Detroit was evacuated in June when airborne chlorine began to burn workers’ eyes, an indication of overexposure to the chemical.

“Workers at Pump Station called 911, said Detroit Water and Sewerage Department spokesman Greg Eno, and HAZMAT crews discovered a white substance in a collection basin,” CBS Detroit reported.

When mishandled, chlorine can pose a serious risk to water employees. Exposure to chlorine gas can cause severe irritation of the eyes and respiratory tract along with tearing, running noses, sneezing, coughing, choking, and chest pain, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC). It can prompt severe breathing problems, including a delayed onset of pneumonia.

The plant has taken samples to identify the source of the problem.

“There’s still an ongoing investigation about how this happened; and, of course, once we find out how it happened the next step, of course, would be to take steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Eno said, per the report.

For ratepayers, the water remains safe, according to the Detroit provider.

“It’s nothing pervasive and I don’t think it’s necessarily a symptom of something that’s seriously wrong,” Eno said. “These things happen, and accidents happen, and we’re just trying find out what happened.”

The current federal limit set by OSHA for chlorine is 1 part of chlorine per million parts of air averaged over 15 minutes.

“The odor threshold for chlorine has been reported at various concentrations and appears to be between 0.02 and .2 ppm for most subjects. Nasal irritation and coughing occur at about .5 ppm. An accidental exposure of humans to unmeasured but high concentrations for a brief period caused burning of the eyes with lacrimation, burning of the nose and mouth with rhinorrhea, cough, choking sensation and substernal pain,” the CDC reported.

Detroit is not alone in facing the dangers of chlorine. In April, near Philadelphia, “several people were taken to the hospital and approximately 50 homes were evacuated after a strong chemical odor went airborne in a Montgomery County neighborhood,” CBS Philly reported.

Chlorine had become airborne when a local business was cleaning a tank. Authorities issued a shelter-in-place order until the area was properly vented.

Last year at a Detroit-area high school, students were evacuated because a company that planned to chlorinate the pool accidentally put it into the wrong tank, prompting fumes, according to Click On Detroit.

For more utility worker safety news, visit Water Online’s Labor Solutions Center.