Full Notification

On the morning of April 8th, an accident occurred at the City of Corcoran’s water treatment plant. A driver from a bulk chemical company was on site to deliver aluminum sulfate, a chemical used in the treatment process. The driver accidently connected to the inlet of the sodium hypochlorite tank, and offloaded a small amount of aluminum sulfate. A chemical reaction occurred inside the tank and one of the products from the reaction was chlorine gas. The chlorine gas escaped from the vents of the sodium hypochlorite tank and moved downwind from the water treatment plant. There is no contamination in the water supply and the water is safe to drink.

Immediately following the reaction, City of Corcoran employees and the chemical delivery driver were evacuated from the site and 911 was called. First Responders arrived within minutes, the entire area was blocked off, and people in the vicinity of the accident were notified and evacuated. Kings County Fire, Kings County Poison Control, and paramedics arrived to the scene and treated anybody that experienced side effects from the accident. The affected areas were tested to ensure they were safe to re-enter.

To remediate the accident, the sodium hypochlorite tank is currently in the process of being evacuated and cleaned before it is put back in service. To repeat, there was no contamination of the water supply and the water is safe to drink.