Block Evacuated After Chemical Spill

A city block in the warehouse district of Simi Valley was cordoned off for almost seven hours Thursday while fire crews from the Ventura County Hazardous Materials Response Team cleaned up a toxic solvent that had leaked from a drum at one of the businesses in the area.

About eight to 10 gallons of chlorobenzene--a highly flammable solvent--leaked from a corroded drum stored at Microwave Monolithics Inc. in the 400 block of Easy Street.

Employees of the telecommunications research company smelled fumes from the leak soon after arriving at work at 8 a.m. and called the Ventura County Fire Department.

Employees at two neighboring businesses were also evacuated, said Joe Luna, a Fire Department spokesman.

One employee of Microwave Monolithics and one from a neighboring firm were treated at the scene for inhaling fumes.

“I was in early and I guess I didn’t really notice the fumes,” said Mike Deeth, 29, who works at neighboring Express Color & Imaging. “But they became stronger and stronger. The fumes got really concentrated and I couldn’t breathe.”

Deeth was given oxygen at the scene but required no further medical attention.

The solvent, a colorless liquid with a sweet, almond scent, is used by the company for cleaning, said Daniel Ch’en, the firm’s president.

The cleanup took hours because the hazardous materials crew had to determine the extent of the danger. The crew took several hours to prepare emergency baths in case of tears in their protective suits and to prepare materials for the cleanup.

When crew members entered the building, they laid down a special material to absorb the chlorobenzene and then scooped that into a double-sealed drum. After tests by county environmental health staff, the buildings were reopened for business about 3 p.m.

The company plans to hire a private firm to remove the material and dispose of it properly, Luna said.