Whew! Workers cap chlorine leak

Wednesday, August 08, 2007
By LYSA CHEN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A chlorine leak in South Kearny injured an employee at the CSX rail yard on Fish House Road early Tuesday morning, but was contained within several hours by emergency crews, police said.

The leak was discovered by an employee at the rail yard around 3:40 a.m., Kearny Police Deputy Chief John Corbett said. Gas leaked from one of the pressure-release valves on a railroad car carrying liquid chlorine, he said, adding that the valve may have popped due to changes in temperature.

The employee who reported the odor was treated by paramedics and taken to a local hospital for observation, said Gary Sease, a CSX spokesman.

Air monitoring showed minor concentrations of chlorine close to the car, Sease said. No chlorine was detected at any distance, and no evacuations were necessary, he said.

Thomas Young, a truck driver for a water company that delivers at the rail yard, said signs warning workers of the leak were posted yesterday on doors at the rail yard. The signs cautioned people to stay upwind and at least 300 feet away from Track 6, he said.

"It is very dangerous down here," Young said. "We (truck drivers) carry so many different chemicals."