A hazardous materials spill inside an Allentown water treatment facility on Martin Luther King Junior Drive triggered a brief evacuation Friday morning, though officials say the public water supply was never at risk. The spill was reported around 10 a.m. after two chemicals used in the treatment process accidentally mixed together inside the building.
Allentown Fire Department public affairs Capt. Jon Hammel said the chemicals involved were sodium hypochlorite and polyaluminum chloride, which were being mixed together when the leak occurred, according to WFMZ.com. Hammel said several chemicals leaked inside the building, but the leak was controlled at the facility and evacuations were limited to the facility itself, not the surrounding neighborhood.
Crucially, Hammel said people at the scene showed no symptoms due to the leak. Lehigh County Authority representative Taylor Stakes said the water system had not been compromised, and that the treatment plant was running without interruption despite the incident.
Emergency Response
The plant's customer care office was closed because of the emergency.
Not the First Mix-Up at a Regional Water Plant
Accidental chemical mixing at water treatment facilities has happened elsewhere in recent months. In May, a small chemical spill occurred at the Gallipolis Water Treatment Plant in Ohio, according to wsaz.com. Gallipolis Fire Chief Keith Elliott said it was not immediately known which chemicals were involved, but that their mixture produced chlorine gas.
Officials in that case said the incident was contained to the treatment facility and did not affect plant operations or the public water supply, though residents near the plant were evacuated as a precaution while a nearby golf course and business were told to shelter in place, per the same station's report. The evidence does not establish any connection between the Ohio incident and Friday's spill in Allentown; they remain separate events.
Allentown residents are being told the water system remains safe and operational.
