On Monday night, a chlorine spill at a water treatment plant in Cleves, Ohio, hospitalized one person. Cleves Mayor Chuck Birkholtz confirmed the incident and said the plant was evacuated as a precaution. The injured city employee, whose condition is not life-threatening, was transported to the University of Cincinnati Emergency Room, as reported by FOX19.
An odor prompting responses from emergency services was initially misidentified as natural gas. However, authorities determined it was chlorine after an investigation at the scene. The confusion led to a portion of Kilby Road being closed off from US-50 to Suspension Bridge Road on Monday evening, according to the incident report by the Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies. In a release to WLWT, Mayor Birkholtz's office informed us that a hazardous materials response team had attended the site to assess the situation.
Cleves Water Works assured the public that the spill did not pose an immediate risk to the water supply that serves the village and its environs. This information comes in light of concerns raised by the community regarding two chemical incidents occurring within two months. The earlier event, a styrene leak at a nearby railyard, forced residents out of their homes and precipitated a series of lawsuits over potential chemical exposure, as noted by The Enquirer.
