St. Catharines Standard e-edition

Acid spill sends 23 workers to hospital

Release valve ‘accidentally hit’ at THK Rhythm Automotive

ALLAN BENNER THE ST. CATHARINES STANDARD

A hydrochloric acid spill Tuesday morning sent 23 workers from a St. Catharines industrial plant to hospital, including several who were directly exposed to the chemical.

St. Catharines fire Chief Dave Upper said emergency crews responded to THK Rhythm Automotive Canada Ltd. on Louth Street at about 9 a.m., where five litres of the acid spilled and quickly vapourized.

Upper said the incident occurred when a contractor working at the factory “accidentally hit a release valve,” dumping hydrochloric acid from a vat of the chemical within the plant that manufactures steering and suspension components for automakers including Ford, GM and BMW.

“They closed it immediately but there was a five-litre spill of hydrochloric acid,” Upper said. “In an abundance of caution, there were about 20 staff members that we decided should be decontaminated.”

Upper said emergency crews used a decontamination facility at THK, and then transferred the workers to St. Catharines hospital to be assessed.

Niagara Emergency Medical Services spokesperson Bryce Brunarski said three individuals were “directly exposed” to the acid.

“They were decontaminated by facility staff with support from our CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive) paramedics and St. Catharines fire,” he said, adding they were transported to hospital as

Canadian Triage Acuity Scale (CTAS) 2 patients, requiring rapid medical intervention.

Those three workers were in direct contact with the acid in both the liquid and vapour forms, Upper said.

Brunarksi said nine other patients were transported to hospital by paramedics, after “minor exposure” to the acid.

Ten others were transported to hospital aboard a city bus, as a precaution. He said those patients were “asymptomatic, low acuity and stable people, with limited exposure” to the spill.

In addition, one worker independently reported to hospital, for a total of 23 who were impacted by the spill.

Upper said a city bus was used rather than ambulance, because of the number of workers involved as well as their nonurgent status.

“With the number of people that were involved, we thought it was easier than to tie up their resources in a transfer capacity,” he said.

Upper said the acid was fully contained inside the building.

“There was no vapour cloud that made it outside into the community,” he said. “There is no harm or risk whatsoever to the community.”

Thompson Products Employees Association union president Frank Viscek, who represents 275 workers at the plant, said he and vice-president Henry Clarkson were relieved that no one was severely injured.

“Anytime there’s any kind or chemical spill, I mean, this is hydrochloric acid we’re talking about and that’s pretty heavy stuff. We were concerned initially with everybody’s well-being,” Viscek said.

He said union representatives spent the morning and early afternoon

ensuring everyone was accounted for while trying to gather more information about how the incident occurred.

He said he was working in his office in Plant 1 when alarms began ringing — across Louth Street from the facility where the spill occurred.

“As soon as the problem was identified, both plants evacuated. We’re nowhere even near this spill, but both plants evacuate immediately and fire trucks and ambulances were on the scene within minutes,” Viscek said.

Clarkson said the company’s internal emergency response team got immediately involved to ensure everyone was taken care of.

Said Viscek, “It was handled well.”

The union representatives said they didn’t know the strength of the acid used as part of an electro-coating process.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Viscek said the area where the spill occurred remained closed to all but emergency workers and investigators.

“Right now it’s caution, caution, caution,” he said.

“These events are startling, especially when we work so close. We’re not a big plant so we know each other pretty well. But we’re just happy that it looks like everybody is going to come out of this unscathed.”

Calls made to company management were not immediately returned.

The incident evoked an emergency response from Niagara Health, where a Code Orange was called putting emergency department staff on alert to prepare for numerous incoming patients.

The hospital system issued a public service announcement, saying it was working with emergency responders “to ensure the best possible care for anyone affected.”

“We are asking the community to please avoid the emergency department at the St. Catharines site and only visit if you have a life-threatening or critical emergency,” the statement said, while advising residents to instead visit the Niagara Falls or Welland emergency department, or urgent care centres in Fort Erie and Port Colborne.

The hospital resumed normal operations by about 1:30 p.m., after winding down its response to the hazardous materials incident.

Viscek said all patients were discharged Tuesday afternoon.

Niagara Health president and chief executive officer Lynn Guerriero said in a media release, “This was an excellent example of our health-care team coming together to handle a serious situation in a calm, efficient and professional manner.

Our health-care teams are under more pressure than ever before, but this response shows why we say our people are our greatest asset. I’m proud of our front-line staff and everyone who played a role in today’s response.”

Ministry of Labour spokesperson Kalem Mcsween said two ministry inspectors were assigned to investigate the incident and were on scene Tuesday afternoon. He said the investigation is ongoing.

The Ministry of Environment was also contacted.

Viscek said the union will be awaiting the results of the Labout Ministry investigation before making any recommendations to the company.

Upper said the incident drew a lot of resources from emergency responders, making it look “like a really big deal.”

He said the emergency call initially came in as a structure fire resulting in a “full response” from St. Catharines Fire and Emergency Services, including 19 firefighters in five vehicles. Several ambulances and other Niagara EMS vehicles where dispatched as well, and police were called to the scene to assist at about 10:30 a.m.

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2022-09-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-09-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

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