At 0900hrs on November 18, 2009, the ER Phone Duty Officer received a call from the National Response Center (NRC) requesting that our regional office contact the Avon Fire Department regarding a possible chemical release. The FD stated that they had responded yesterday to a 911 emergency call at Cuming Corp, a company that manufactures foam products. The call involved one individual that worked at the facility, displaying symptoms of respiratory distress. They received a similar call this morning regarding a different employee, also with respiratory distress issues. The FD requested EPA's assistance with site assessment and chemical identification.
OSC Gary Lipson was dispatched and arrived at the facility at approximately 1100 hrs. A START team accompanied OSC Lipson to provide air monitoring support, as needed. They, along with a MA DEP responder met with company officials and a captain with the Avon Fire Department who was familiar with the company.
There was no apparent ongoing chemical release as the company was fully staffed and business was on-going as ususual with no other known illnesses or employees in obvious distress. After discussing the two affected employees, their potential exposures, and other outstanding issues, it did not seem that the two cases were necessarily related. In addition, the company provided evidence that they were working with two companies to ensure adequate air quality for their employees. As a precaution, EPA and START collected an air sample from the work area of one of the affected employees that was analyzed at EPA's Regional Laboratory. A number of organic compounds were detected, but nothing at levels of concern.
Prior to ending the Removal program's involvement, the responding OSC spoke with members of the Office of Environmental Stewardship, Air Technical Unit to discuss a possible inspection of the facility.
