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A chemical leak at a manufacturing company in Buckeye, Arizona, prompted a hazmat response and shelter-in-place order for nearby residents.
Video footage shows an orange cloud emitting from the plant.
“Hazmat crews are on the scene after emergency officials issued a temporary shelter-in-place order early this evening. This was due to orange toxic clouds billowing from the Thatcher chemical manufacturing plant dangerously close to homes in Buckeye, Arizona. Plant officials report that the chemicals involved are nitric acid and ammonia. Since ammonia is a colorless gas, it is believed the orange cloud is from nitric acid, which is extremely hazardous to human health,” Rawsalerts wrote.
“According to the National Library of Medicine, nitric acid is ‘very toxic by inhalation’ and ‘corrosive to metals or tissue.’ Officials have since lifted the shelter-in-place order and declared the area safe,” the post added.
#BREAKING: Hazmat crews are on the scene after a temporary shelter-in-place was ordered due to the leak of two highly toxic chemicals, which produced orange toxic clouds.
#Buckeye | #Arizona ⁰
Hazmat crews are on the scene after emergency officials issued a temporary… pic.twitter.com/zoEf9D3ErB— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) June 22, 2024
FOX 10 Phoenix reports:
The chemical leak incident happened at Thatcher Company of Arizona, where an orange cloud could be seen emitting from a garage door on the side of the company’s warehouse.
Officials say 200 gallons of nitric acid leaked into a basin, reacting with a metal that caused the gas to form.
There were 80 people dispatched to help contain the leak. No firefighters were injured in the incident.
“There is a nitric acid tank that sprung a leak and the fluids of that are being contained in a concrete basin. When it gets to that basin it can have a reaction – and it is – and that what we are seeing in the sky,” Buckeye Assistant Fire Chief Rayne Gray said.
#ALERT: Shelter-In-Place Due to Chemical Leak
A yellow haze hovers over a chemical manufacturing facility in Buckeye. There are concerns about air quality for residents in the vicinity. Avoid the area. #Buckeye #Arizona #Chemical pic.twitter.com/O4c4efgAlu— Citizen (@CitizenApp) June 22, 2024
Per Arizona’s Family:
Currently, four of Thatcher’s plants have active EPA violations and are under compliance monitoring. None of those plants are in Arizona.
The U.S. Department of Environmental Quality has previously settled with Thatcher Company of Nevada for a slew of violations at the company’s plants in Sparks, Nevada.
During a “November 2021 inspection and subsequent investigation, EPA determined that the facility did not have the required safety information for equipment inside of its chemical storage and repackaging warehouse,” federal officials claimed.
Thatcher was ordered to pay a penalty of $69,396 and was ordered to buy an environmental project valued at $110,000.
In 2019, more than 50 people were treated after a “significant” leak at the company’s plant in Salt Lake City, according to the Deseret News.
