Illinois 121 near the Kenney Blacktop between Warrensburg and Latham was closed in both directions for several hours Thursday as emergency personnel worked to clean up after an anhydrous ammonia leak at a local fertilizer plant.
Macon County Emergency Management Agency Director Phil Anello said the road was closed from about 8:50 to 11:45 a.m. because of an ammonia leak at the Van Horn Fertilizer plant near unincorporated Heman.
Anello said no injuries or hospitalizations were reported in the incident, and foul play is not believed to be involved. Anello said it was an accident with a faulty valve that caused a large ammonia cloud to form.
The leak triggered a “multiagency, multijurisdictional response,” Anello said.
Warrensburg Fire Chief Keith Hackl, whose department was the lead agency in handling the leak, said 12 to 15 homes downwind from the leak temporarily were evacuated, but the communities of Warrensburg and Latham were not directly affected.
Hackl said Warrensburg firefighters received assistance from many fire departments, including Harristown, Latham, Kenney, Maroa, Hickory Point Township and South Wheatland Township.
The Decatur Fire Department also sent 10 technicians from its hazardous materials unit to help control and clean up the leak, Battalion Chief Michael McGeehon said.
Anello said that while the accident was unfortunate, emergency personnel are often required to respond to similar incidents in the fall, as many farmers look to fertilize their fields with anhydrous ammonia.
“These things happen sometimes, and (farmers and fertilizer sales people) use extreme caution when handling this product,” he said.
He credited the Macon County Sheriff’s Office and Macon County Highway Department with working quickly to secure the scene so emergency personnel could contain the leak without interference from passing traffic.
West Coast 911 firefighting news source – Herald and Review – Illinois
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