Suburban Houston shelter-in-place lifted after ammonia gas leak

on Feb13
by | Comments Off on Suburban Houston shelter-in-place lifted after ammonia gas leak |

A shelter-in-place advisory issued in suburban Houston because of a leak of ammonia gas from a refrigeration line at a warehouse was lifted early Sunday afternoon, officials said.

Officials said at a news conference that while air monitoring would continue around the 99 Cents Only Store distribution center in Katy, there wasn’t currently a health risk. No injuries were reported.

Emergency responders were called to the warehouse just before 9 p.m. Saturday because of the leak of anhydrous ammonia from an overhead refrigeration line, Harris County Emergency Services District 48 Fire Chief George McAteer said. He said the refrigeration system had been undergoing maintenance.

HOUSTON CRIME VICTIM’S ADVOCATE CALLS ON STATE DEMOCRATS TO SUPPORT TOUGH BAIL POLICIES AMID CRIME SURGE

A suburban Houston shelter-in-place has been lifted after an ammonia leak from an overhead refrigeration line. 

A suburban Houston shelter-in-place has been lifted after an ammonia leak from an overhead refrigeration line. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Initially, the leak was contained to the building, but around 1 a.m. Sunday, air monitoring showed it was leaking out of the 800,000-square-foot, Harris County Fire Marshal Laurie Christensen said.

Officials said that it was initially too dangerous for crews to be inside the building because of the flammability of the gas and the respiratory effects from it, but by early afternoon, it had been determined that the tanks had bled off and only residual amounts of ammonia were left.

Harris County Public Health said it issued the shelter in place advisory Sunday morning for the 2 square miles out of an abundance of caution.

Exposure to high concentrations of ammonia in the air can cause burning of the eyes, nose, throat and respiratory track, and can result in blindness, lung damage or death, health officials say, while exposure to lower amounts can result in coughing and irritation of the nose and throat.



Source link



Previous postChicago 16-year-old charged in fatal shootings that left 2 students dead Next postChicago sees 9 armed robberies in just over an hour: 'Kind of scary'


Chicago Financial Times


Copyright © 2024 Chicago Financial Times

Updates via RSS
or Email