1 Dead, 6 Injured in Toxic Spill at Utah Plant; 1,000 Evacuated

About 2,000 gallons of a toxic chemical spilled from a ruptured pipe Tuesday and the fumes killed one man, injured six and forced the evacuation of about 1,000 people from an industrial park, officials said.

Crews from seven local and state agencies were “just working down there feverishly” to contain the spill, Davis County Sheriff’s Capt. Bud Cox said. Crews were also working to stop the chemical from eating through a warehouse’s concrete floor and plugging drains to keep it out of sewers, officials said.

Thirty businesses and four homes in a two-square-mile area were evacuated, Police Sgt. Paul Arnold said.

The spill shortly before 7 a.m. at Hodson Laboratories involved trichloroethane, a solvent used in liquid resins.

Sewer System Not Affected

Mayor DeWayne Simmons said there was no evidence that any of the chemical had seeped into the sewer system, as officials at first feared, although an unknown number of gallons ran out of the building to the pavement, where crews wearing protective clothing and breathing devices covered it with foam and sand.

The dead man was identified by company officers as chief of manufacturing Lee Hodson, 37, son of company owner Val Hodson. The younger Hodson had gone to the plant to accept a shipment of the chemical.

An elbow joint in a pipe used to transfer the chemical from one tank to another broke, spewing the chemical onto the floor of a company warehouse, Owen Hogle, executive vice president, said.

Hodson was pronounced dead at the scene after a paramedic dragged his body from the building, one of about 30 businesses in the North Salt Lake Industrial Park, about 10 miles north of Salt Lake City.

Other chemicals were removed from the building so they would not mix with the spilled chemical.

Police Chief Val Wilson set the number of evacuees at 1,000. Authorities said many were people who were turned away when they arrived at the industrial park for work.

At first, authorities closed off a one-mile-radius area around the plant but expanded it briefly when light winds kept shifting.

The six injured, including a police officer and two paramedics, were released after treatment for nausea and respiratory complaints, a hospital spokeswoman said.