Six AVI employees ill after hazardous spill

HOWLAND — Six employees were sent to area hospitals after a hazardous material spill at the AVI Foodsystems plant in Howland.

At 8:25 a.m. today, emergency services responded to a call from the vending company that two cleaning solutions were accidentally mixed, causing a chemical irritant.

The Howland Fire Department arrived on the scene and provided health checks on 76 employees at AVI. Of those employees, six were sent to hospitals as a precautionary measure.

The fire department approved AVI to resume business at 9:08 a.m., and company officials met with employees to make sure no one else felt or exhibited signs of illness.

The company said in a press release that the cleaning solutions are used to clean equipment.