Darien---Just a few of the 15 workers that were taken to hospitals for treatment following an ammonia leak at the Birds Eye food processing plant in Walworth County remained hospitalized Sunday evening.
Earlier in the day, an apparent leak in a refrigeration system developed at the end of the overnight shift, triggering a plant evacuation and sending area fire departments to the scene, including the region’s hazardous materials unit, led by the Racine Fire Department.
Chief Steve Hansen explained later in the morning that alarms went off in the plant as the gas started to leak.
Hansen’s 25-person team spent much of the day inside, testing the air and using big fans to blow the ammonia out of the plant where it quickly dissipated.
Although 15 of the plant's 140 workers were taken to area hospitals, another 75 were checked out at the scene and then told to go home.
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