12 workers evacuated as ethylene leaks from Dow storage facility

10-Jul-08

Dow Chemical plant reported a gas leak last week, enforcing emergency protocols at Fort Saskatchewan's plant. Emergency crews doused the ethylene with a curtain of water to prevent it from igniting after it started leaking from a wellhead during maintenance just after 11 a.m. The leak was identified as a small leak of about 5-10 kgs per minute. Several crews worked concurrently on closing of the valve and plugging of a 1 cm diameter hole. All the staff members at Dow's wells facility - a total of 12, were evacuated while operations resumed in other areas of the plant. Since the facility is only for storage, normal operations at the plant were not affected.