No use crying over spilt… chemicals

Thursday 07 June 2018

A chemical spill initially thought to be a chlorine gas leak outside Jersey Dairy yesterday won’t spoil the quality of island milk, the company has reassured islanders.

Drivers were urged to avoid the area as firefighters tackled the spillage – a leak of acidic cleaning chemicals from a damaged tank – outside the home of Jersey milk production around 14:00 on Wednesday.

Using breathing apparatus, chemical protection suits, pumping appliances and a hazardous materials trailer they contained the spillage and made the Jersey Dairy and RJAHS site safe in around five hours. 

INCIDENT UPDATE: We are attending a small chemical incident which is under control. There is no concerns for public

— Jersey Fire & Rescue (@JsyFire) June 6, 2018

Fire Service officials first came to the scene following reports of a chlorine gas leak, but soon learned that it was nitrogen dioxide gas that had been released from a nitrogen-based chemical used to clean milk vessels, which then reacted with its steal storage container. After isolating the damaged container, crews worked to absorb and dilute the product with sand and water.

Environmental Health officials also attended to monitor the run-off of chemicals into surface water catchment systems.

Station Commander Mark Masterman commented that “we were extremely lucky that staff at the diary reacted quickly to the incident before we arrived by doing their best to prevent the acid from entering the water course and using sand to absorb the puddles to prevent run-off. Fortunately the gas reaction was small and no staff were injured. The wind direction also helped to dissipate what gas there was away from populated areas, so apart from the diary itself we did not need to evacuate any surrounding properties.”

Pictured: Fire crews dealt with the spillage using chemical protection suits. (Jersey Fire and Rescue)

Following the “chemical incident”, Jersey Dairy have since informed islanders that “at no point was there any risk to the public or staff.” Moreover, lactose lovers can rest assured that their morning teas, coffees, cereals and yoghurts should be safe too because the spillage was away from dairy production HQ.

Eamon Fenlon, Jersey Dairy Managing Director, commented: “We take the safety of our staff, suppliers and customers very seriously. Emergency services were contacted immediately to ensure that the area was safe. 

“We would like to reassure our customers that milk supply and quality will not be affected in any way and we would like to thank the emergency services for the professional way in which they dealt with the situation.”