17 treated after ammonia leak

JOY LANDALUCE

July 03, 2008 at 1:04PM AKST

A hose failure at the Bear and Wolf/Trident Seafood plant in Cordova led to the evacuation of more than 200 people at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 25.

Seventeen people were treated, including three from the Cordova Volunteer Fire Department.

Cordova Police Chief Chris Canaski said that the evacuation went smoothly.

“I was very impressed, emergency responders were there in minutes,” Canaski said. “A hose failure on a refrigeration line caused the ammonia leak, and that hose was isolated very quickly.”

The emergency doctor at the Cordova Community Medical Center, Alyce Garrity, said everyone was out by midnight.

“The disaster system in place does work,” Garrity said. “We worked with the Alaska Poison Control in Anchorage, the Alaska state troopers, the Cordova Police, Dr. Gary VanWinkle and the emergency medical team.

“This could have been a potentially catastrophic situation,” she added. “Ammonia and chlorine can be a bad combination.”

The bunkhouses were evacuated along with the Bear and Wolf plant.

“A lot of off-duty people helped out,” Garrity said. “A health board meeting was under way in the hospital board room, so the nursing staff was already in the building.”

Bear and Wolf/Trident Seafoods staff thanked all the agencies involved for the quick response to the plant.

Joy Landaluce can be reached at (907) 424-7181.