75 EVACUATED FROM DELTA AFTER FARM CHEMICAL SPILL

DELTA -- Nearly 4,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia leaked out of a fertilizer trailer Monday night in a field near Delta, sending three people to the hospital.

The spill happened as Mike Halton was spreading the liquid fertilizer over a field near Highway 25. He said he smelled the gas when a coupling hose broke loose. He abandoned the vehicle and called 911.

Delta Fire Protection District Chief Alvin Frank Jr. said firefighters received the call around 8:15 p.m. They initially closed off portions of Highway 25 and Route PP about three-quarters of a mile around the spill and evacuated about 75 people from a four-block area of the town.

An advance team and a backup team of firefighters inspected the trailer and closed the leak but almost all of the ammonia had leaked out by then, Frank said.

Emergency workers reopened the road at 10:23 p.m. and allowed residents to return to their homes then. Frank said most of the fertilizer had evaporated by then.

The granular form of anhydrous ammonia was a primary component of the fertilizer bomb used to destroy the Oklahoma City Federal Building in 1995. Frank said it is more stable in its liquid form but still presented a possible fire hazard.

The chemical is also a health hazard and can cause respiratory problems and a kind of freeze burn if it comes in contact with skin, Frank said.

James Hornbuckle, 18, was driving east on Highway 25 from Advance at around the time of the spill and before the road was closed. He told his mother he encountered a fog on the road that made it hard to see and breathe. He was transported to Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau with respiratory problems along with two firefighters by Cape County Private Ambulance.

Frank said there should not be any lingering problems from the spill but he is planning to inspect the area again today.

Randall and Janet Jackson of Lincoln Street in Delta were evacuated from their home because of the spill. They said this is the first time they've had to leave their home because of a fertilizer spill but it is not the first time they've had problems with anhydrous ammonia trailers.

Randall Jackson said that during the summer pop-off valves regularly release the ammonia gas as the liquid in the trailers heats up. Janet Jackson said she had to call 911 on a number of occasions last year because of that.