HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Crews have contained a discharge of ammonia vapor at Henrico County's Water Treatment Facility on Three Chopt Road, according to a news release sent on Wednesday afternoon.
Henrico County officials said the discharge happened during planned repairs by contractor employees.
"Officials report that the discharge has been contained to an interior room of the WTF and does not pose an environmental concern or a health risk for residents or others in the area. The discharge also will not impact county water service, according to the Department of Public Utilities," the news release said.
Hazmat crews entered the facility at 1:45 p.m., and according to Henrico Deputy Fire Chief Doug Clevert, they were able to identify and contain the ammonia vapor discharge within an hour.
Officials said that three of 10 contractor employees may have been exposed to the vapor while replacing ammonia scrubber equipment as part of the repair project.
"Before Henrico Fire units arrived, the affected contractor employees had transported themselves to a medical facility for evaluation," the release said.
Henrico officials confirmed that the three employees were evaluated and found to be in stable condition before being released.
"All employees were evacuated from the facility out of precaution, and no other individuals sought or required medical treatment. No county employees were exposed to ammonia vapor in the incident. Public Utilities staff have been monitoring facility operations from other locations. Fifteen county employees typically work daily at the Water Treatment Facility," officials said.
The release said that Henrico Fire is working to safely ventilate the building before reopening it.
"We thank the staff for working so quickly to address this concern," Clevert said.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
📲: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky | Facebook | Instagram | X | Threads | TikTok | YouTube
