Toxic Spill Closes Plant and Sends 2 to Hospital

About 15 gallons of an extremely toxic chemical spilled while a storage tank was being filled at a South Gate plant Friday, closing the facility and forcing two trucking company employees to seek emergency treatment, authorities said.

Two workers at the Arnco Co. plant, 51541 Firestone Place, also were reported to have sought medical aid, but a spokesman at the firm’s corporate headquarters in La Palma, near Buena Park, said the company lacked information and therefore would have no comment.

The Los Angeles County Health Department is investigating the spill of toluene di-isocyanate, a chemical used as a foaming agent to inflate flat tires.

Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Robert Rodriguez said Fire Station 54 was notified about 10:25 a.m. Friday and dispatched an engine.

‘Place Was Closed’

“When we arrived, all the employees had been sent home,” Rodriguez said. “The place was closed and only three people were there. They said they had a spill at about 7:30 a.m. They claimed there was no problem and no injuries.”

Later, he said, the Fire Department learned that two trucking company employees and two Arnco workers had been affected by the fumes.

The identities of the two trucking company employees who sought medical treatment were not disclosed.

Toby Staheli, an official with the county Health Department, said that after the spill Arnco called a clean-up company, which solidified the toxic material before removing it.

County Fire Department spokesman Jim Shephard described toluene di-isocyanate as “very bad stuff.” If inhaled, he said, the material can cause nausea, vomiting, anemia and respiratory failure and chronic liver disease.