CALVERT CITY, Ky.
The second fire in two years at a Western Kentucky chemical plant has
officials discussing how to properly warn neighbours.
An ethylene-unit fire at the Westlake Group plant Thursday evening
caused minor injuries to an employee, who was treated at a hospital
and released. Westlake Group Plant manager said the non-toxic gas fire
was brought under control and allowed to burn out through the night
and all day Friday.
A fire in January 2002 spewed an estimated 10,000 pounds of hazardous
chemicals into the air. No one was injured, but emergency workers scrambled
door to door in remote areas to warn neighbours to stay inside. This
time, Livingston County Judge-Executive sounded seven new and two upgraded
sirens that advised people downwind from the plant to remain indoors.
Calvert City plants had paid about $110,000 for the sirens, which were
tested for the first time last month. But in Calvert City, in Marshall
County, the Mayor said plant officials decided the city's sirens did
not need to be used. "Just from what I saw, the wind direction
wasn't toward us, so there was no danger to Calvert City residents if
any gases were escaping," he said. "I didn't determine that
the fire required sounding the alarms." Still, residents were concerned
with the lack of notification.
The Major called a Benton radio station to report the fire, but he
said he plans to put information on the city's new radio frequency in
the future. The system should be in place by April. State environmental
teams joined plant officials Friday trying to assess the exact cause
and origin of the fire. It will be several weeks before test results
show what was in the air during the fire, said a spokeswoman for the
Kentucky Cabinet for Environmental and Public Protection. She also said
that "air-monitoring stations had just been installed in various
parts of the plant as part of routine testing," she said. "That
was good luck." |
