Traces of chlorine delay investigation

CRYSTALCITY, Mo. -- Residual traces of chlorine on Thursday slowed the investigation into a severe leak that a day earlier caused the evacuation of hundreds of residents and left 60 people sick.

Investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board were in Crystal City, about 30 miles south of St. Louis, where they planned to try and found out what went wrong at DPC Enterprises on Wednesday.

The leak occurred as chlorine was being loaded from a rail car. It was halted shortly after noon Wednesday and the gas should have dissipated by Thursday, said Giby Joseph, an investigator with the agency. But a lack of wind kept the gas in the area, making inspection impossible

Joseph and another investigator spent the day talking with DPC officials while waiting for levels to taper off.

Investigators want to find out why the automatic shut-off valve failed, allowing the gas to leak for two hours before being manually turned off. Joseph said he was told that a broken flex hose from the rail car caused the leak.

Joseph said failed automatic shut-off valves "are not a common thing, so that's part of the mystery."

When the hose connecting the chlorine to the car began to leak and did not turn off, employees were evacuated first as a safety precaution, said Wayne Penick, manager of safety, health and environmental services at DPC Enterprises.

"Our first concern is employee evacuation," he said.

A team of four response workers, including one plant employee, were able to return and turn off the leak two hours later.

Sixty people were treated at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Crystal City following the leak. Three patients were admitted for chlorine inhalation with lung irritation and were in good condition, hospital spokesman Chris Berra said.

The 57 people treated in the emergency room had symptoms ranging from respiratory distress, shortness of breath, cough, nausea, headache and burning in the chest.

"For the most part they were given oxygen and released," said Charlotte Anderson, a hospital spokeswoman.

While no people were seriously ill, Kim Hoyt, one of the evacuees, said her 5-year-old Siberian Husky, Sunny, might not live. The dog was trapped in the backyard of Hoyt's. She wasn't allowed to go back to get the animal.

"This morning he was very lethargic, throwing up," Hoyt said. "He's just not himself."

Joseph said the investigation was expected to take 2-4 weeks. Two other federal agencies -- the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration -- also plan their own investigations.

DPC was the site of a chlorine spill in 1999 when a large drum of chlorine was dropped by a crane operator, forcing an evacuation and resulting in some illnesses.