A chemical leak altered operations at Lincoln Premium Poultry and sent three to the hospital on Saturday night.
Jessica Kolterman of LPP said officials received notification of a potential ammonia leak at about 7:45 p.m.
“The entire team that was present in the building was able to evacuate,” she said. “They were able to shut down the systems and contain the leak. Later in the evening, a hazmat crew was called in to do an assessment of the situation and help us develop a plan going forward.”
Kolterman said two workers were taken to the hospital as a precaution. They were evaluated and released.
“There was also a contractor who did have an exposure who was taken to a hospital and is currently still hospitalized,” she said.
The cause of the leak is still under investigation.
“They’re still doing assessments on that and hopefully we’ll have more information down the road,” Kolterman said. “I know there was some work going on from a maintenance perspective in the room where the leak occurred so it would most likely be tied to some kind of maintenance in (that) vicinity.”
Kolterman noted that ammonia is a very regulated chemical and that LPP follows all of the protocols that are given to the company through the different governing bodies.
“As such, you shut down your entire operation and the building remains evacuated until an ‘all clear’ is given for regular operations,” she said. “We’re working with hazmat teams and we’ve been in contact with all state and local officials that need to be worked with in situations such as these. We’re doing everything we can to be up in operations as soon as possible.”
LPP officials are optimistic regular operations will be up and running later this week. Kolterman lauded the plant’s response to the leak.
“We’re very proud of our teams and the way that they handled the situation on the ground,” she said. “They are very diligent and they’ve been very resilient. We just really appreciate everything they’re doing and did, to make sure their team members are safe. We look forward to being back in operations very soon.”
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