UPDATE | Fire chief calls leak at treatment plant 'significant'

YOUNGSTOWN — A “significant leak” of chlorine occurred today inside the city’s waste water treatment plant on Poland Avenue, said Fire Chief John J. O’Neill Jr.

Several hundred gallons of the chemical leaked about 9:10 a.m.

The leak was stopped about 11:30 a.m., said Charles Shasho, deputy director of the city’s public-works department.

By 12:30 p.m., Hazmat crews had left the scene and City Fire Department Battalion Chief Sliverio Caggiano told The Vindicator that crews are allowing the leaked chlorine to leak slowly into the atmosphere.

That process will be monitored by wastewater personnel.

Waste Water Superintendent Thomas Mirante said he doesn’t know how long the leak was going on before he discovered it on the plant’s computer monitoring system.

It isn’t known what caused the leak, and that won’t be determined until after the chlorine gas dissipates, Shasho said.

It also isn’t known how long that will take, but it should occur later today, he said.

“It’s pretty volatile stuff,” Shasho said. “Chlorine gases are highly toxic and they move very fast. You have very little time to get out of there once you’re exposed to it.”

There were about 50 employees inside the building when the leak was detected, Shasho said. All but one employee was able to get out of the facility quickly, Shasho said.

“We had one man missing for a short period of time,” he said. “One man was accounted for, but was found.”

City officials at the scene say a worker was taken to a hospital to be examined.

When the leak was found, Mirante called the city fire department. Firefighters then called the Trumbull County Hazmat team.

Poland Avenue between Gibson Avenue and the Ziegler Tire & Supply Co. location at 1014 Poland Ave. as well as the Himrod Avenue Expressway will be closed until 8 a.m. Tuesday, said Tom Sakmar, the city’s street department foreman.

The plant was built in 1963 and provides primary treatment, clarification and disinfection of waste water for the city as well as portions of Austintown, Boardman, Liberty and Hubbard.

The facility had improvement work done in 1984 to the primary treatment system and a rebuild of its sludge disposal system.

A year later, work began on the secondary treatment facility including a secondary pump station, filters, and a sludge aeration system. That work was finished in 1989.

This is a breaking news story. Watch Vindy.com for updates and see Tuesday's Vindicator for the complete story.