Breathing Problems For Workers After Chemical Leak At Plant

A chemical leak at a water treatment plant in England sent four workers to the hospital last week with breathing problems.

“Emergency services were called to Biochemica UK in Teesside shortly before 11:30 a.m. on Friday. The four were taken to hospital with breathing difficulties after the incident at the plant on the Cowpen Lane industrial estate in Billingham,” The Guardian reported.

A spokesperson for the North East Ambulance Service confirmed that breathing difficulties sparked the emergency trip, per the report.

All four patients are stable, the spokesperson said, although they were originally treated as though their conditions were potentially life-threatening. A spokesperson for the company operating the plant, Biochemica, told the ITV News:

During a routine delivery procedure there was a minor incident at our Billingham warehouse this morning at 11:24, Friday 2 September 2016. In line with our procedures the emergency services were notified and attended site as a consequence. There were no serious injuries and those affected have attended hospital for precautionary checks. The situation was dealt with internally to the satisfaction of the attending services and normal operations have resumed. A full investigation is underway and further information will be issued when available.

Station manager Ian Dixon from Cleveland Fire Brigade said, per ITV: "There was some process taking place with a small amount of chemical, and we believe there was some reaction which has taken place with a different chemical which created a very small gas cloud, but we'd just like to stress there were no off-site implications. It was a very small-scale incident."

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