COBB COUNTY, Ga. — State regulators are deploying an emergency response team to Sterigenics in Cobb County to investigate a toxic gas leak and evacuation that took place there last month.
The deployment was announced late Tuesday afternoon after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution sought comment from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division about the incident.
A company email to employees obtained by The AJC indicates the leak occurred on July 31, just hours after a community meeting was held at a Smyrna middle school to discuss toxic ethylene oxide emissions from the plant.
"I wanted to inform each of you that we experienced an area evacuation at approximately 3:14 a.m. this morning," the email reads. "An investigation took place at this time and it was found that a drum that was recently removed ... was leaking from the gas valve."
The email goes on to say that the valve was closed, but does not say how much ethylene oxide might have escaped. The company is required to report a leak immediately if the size of the release cannot be determined, or if it's greater than 10 pounds.
After the leak was sealed, "The levels that were seen in the facility at the time dissipated as well," the email reads.
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Sterigenics issued a statement following the EPD deployment Tuesday, saying that the release was detected by sensors in the plant and was determined to be less than 6 pounds below the reporting threshold.
"The detection sensors are designed for the protection of the employees in the facility as well as the broader community and are calibrated to provide release alerts even at levels well below the EPD's requirements for reporting," the statement said.
The EPD said it could not conclude, based on the email, whether a reportable release occurred.
"Now that EPD has been made aware of the potential release on July 31, EPD is conducting an investigation of this incident," the agency said in a statement. "Following that investigation, EPD will determine the appropriate next steps."
Gov. Brian Kemp's spokeswoman, Candice Broce, said the EPD was acting in response to "new information."
Sterigenics statement in full:
"On July 31, 2019, the ethylene oxide (EO) detection sensors at the Sterigenics Atlanta identified a potential release of EO at a localized area within the facility. The detection sensors are designed for the protection of the employees in the facility as well as the broader community and are calibrated to provide release alerts even at levels well below the EPD's requirements for reporting.
"On July 31, the sensors appropriately alerted employees in the vicinity of a potential EO release. Consistent with company procedures, employees properly vacated the area and the incident was immediately investigated. The source of the release was immediately identified and stopped. It was determined that less than six pounds of EO was released from a used EO drum on which the valve was not completely closed after use. Although this release was below the level required to be reported to the EPD, Sterigenics took immediate corrective actions to ensure similar incidents do not occur in the future."
This article was written by Meris Lutz with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Cox Media Group
