Chlorine leak disrupts Severna Park neighborhood

By PAMELA WOOD, Staff Writer

Published 10/07/08

Five Severna Park homes were evacuated as a precaution yesterday as firefighters contained a leaky chlorine tank at a water-treatment plant.

J. Henson - The Capital TOP: A firefighter is helped into a protective suit yesterday before entering the Severndale Water Treatment Plant.
BOTTOM: Firefighter John P. Smith, left, and Firefighter Jimmy Johnston carry an “A kit” into the Severndale Water Treatment Plant, which had a leaky chlorine tank Monday.

Workers at the Severndale Water Treatment Plant, 123 Southway, called 911 at about 11:30 a.m. after discovering the leak while replacing a nearly empty, 150-pound chlorine tank with a fresh tank.

The workers sealed off the 10-foot by 20-foot room before evacuating the plant, said Battalion Chief Matthew Tobia, a county Fire Department spokesman.

Chlorine is a chemical asphyxiant, a substance which can lower oxygen levels, that can be harmful to humans, Chief Tobia said.

As...

This story has expired!
You can purchase the full text in our news archives.

YOUR COMMENTS

RULES OF PARTICIPATION

If you encounter other problems, please email ewiffin@capitalgazette.com and include your name, username, and any errors or messages that are displayed. The more information you can provide, the better able we will be to assist you.

In order to post or vote on a comment, you must be signed in with a hometownannapolis account.

Take a look at a summary of Commenting Guidelines.

Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. 0

Jimmie Johnson - 2008-10-09 13:58:18

O man, not good. I do some work with the American Chemistry Council and you have to be smart about chlorine. Like any chemical, you need to make sure it's used safely. But don't worry -- chlorine that is properly stored and used appropriately is one of the most effective and safe ways to cleanse drinking water.

unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?

Jimmie Johnson - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Bad