Tyson Foods located at 300 Portwall Street, Houston, TX notified the National Response Center (NRC) at 11:38 AM. They advised that they had an ongoing Anhydrous Ammonia release starting at 9:56 AM on 4/30/2007. The release was detected by a fixed ammonia detection system. Upon further investigation, Tyson determined that the leak was located in the attic of the facility. The “attic” is the suspended ceiling located above the work area but below the roof. The majority of process piping is contained there or on the roof. Air monitoring at the venting of the roof indicated that the NH3 level were near 1000ppm. Air monitoring with the floor level indicated that the NH3 levels were 10ppm. Nearly 150 employees have been evacuated from the facility. There have been no off site evacuations.
EPA has responded to the release. START-3 arrived at approximately 12:30 PM. They immediately initiated air monitoring. OSC Chris Ruhl arrived on scene at 2:00 PM. Houston Hazmat and TCEQ also responded to the incident. Houston Hazmat has staged equipment and personnel in the event that there is a catastrophic release or one that might impact the surrounding areas. Tyson refrigeration experts are inspecting the process piping to determine where the leak is. Once the leak is found it will be isolated from the system and repaired.
EPA will continue to conduct air monitoring and coordinate with the Tyson and the Houston Hazmat team.
Tyson Refrigerated Processed Meats, Portwall is a food manufacturing facility located in a heavily industrial section of Houston Texas. The food production process at this facility requires very low temperatures to process and maintain the finished product. The refrigeration system uses anhydrous ammonia to provide the proper temperature in the production areas, coolers and blast freezers. The facility is a RMP facility and has a total of approximately 11,600 pound of anhydrous ammonia.
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