Island Heights chlorine tank leaks at municipal water treatment plant

Island Heights schools were temporarily in lockdown, officials said, as a precaution for an emergency chlorine leak at the nearby Island Heights Water Treatment Plant, 250 Lake Avenue, reported at 9:30 a.m. today. The plant was reported evacuated at around 9:40, after a municipal utilities worker discovered a chlorine tank was leaking.

Island Heights Fire Chief Andrew Parks said 12 homes and 8 businesses were evacuated and Summit Avenue was barricaded between Laurel and Simpson avenues for about an hour, in addition to a school lockdown at the elementary school west of the treatment plant.

Police went door to door asking residents to leave the area and businesses to close, Parks said, in what was a precaution in case gas escaped from the nearby water treatment plant.

Parks said chlorine gas was leaking inside the building, clouding it with gas, but did not escape. No injuries were reported, he said.

Police barricaded Summit Avenue after discovering the leak, but at 11:20 all roads remained open in Island Heights. The plant is bordered by Summit Avenue with a Lake Avenue entrance.

Behind the plant's security gates, Berkeley Township Fire Department Decontamination squads, Island Heights Volunteer Fire Company, police and township officials and fire aiders were on hand as emergency responders were working to secure the area from the deadly gas, which is used to treat water in the plant.

Hazardous Materials and decontamination squads from the area, including Berkeley Township and Point Pleasant Borough, were also called to decontaminate the facility.

Crews wearing blue hazmat suits were working in and around Island Heights' plant and fire trucks remained stationed nearby through 11:30 a.m., about the time the leak was contained, Parks said. By 11:45 a.m., emergency vehicles began leaving the area.

Parks said Island Heights' office of emergency management worked with the school so the outdoor area would remain clear and students and staff would remain inside the school building, out of potential danger.

"The police went door to door to tell residents it would be in their best interest to leave for a little while," Parks said. "The school was in temporary lockdown as a precaution, to keep everyone inside and make sure there were no kids out and about."

Parks said the leak began in a 100-pound cylinder that chlorine gas is stored in before the plant's pipes and regulators send it into the water for treatment.

"The cylinder went bad," Parks said. About 30 emergency responders were on hand, Parks said, as decontamination crews used gas meters and other apparatus to find the source of the leak and contain it.

Parks said this is the only incident he recalls at the plant as long as he can remember, approximately 15 years without incident.

Four public works staffers were also evacuated from the building. A private park across the street and Dillon's Creek remain unaffected, Parks said.

Wind conditions that day would have protected much of Island Heights' school from danger should have a cloud of chlorine gas escaped, Parks said.

"The wind is North-Northwest today," Parks said, "and the school is west of here. If this was an eastern wind, the school might have been evacuated instead of just locked down."