Dairy plant chemical reaction causes lockdown - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

Dairy plant chemical reaction causes lockdown

Posted: Updated:
ADRIAN, Mich. -

A chemical reaction prompted a lockdown in Adrian, Michigan on Friday morning. The hazardous fumes couldn't be seen or smelled, but the plant manager of the Dairy Farmers Of America Plant says they were dangerous all the same.

It happened just before 7 a.m. on Friday inside the plant that processes raw milk into cream, powdered, condensed and skim milk.

The chemical release had nothing to do with the dairy products, but came from a cleaning agent inside a 55-gallon drum.

Adrian Firefighters say a barrel of nitric acid reacted with a small amount of sodium hydroxide.  Workers spotted the fumes coming from the container, hit the emergency alert buttons and left the facility.

The Lenaweee County Haz-Mat team told the Adrian Fire Deparment to keep everyone one-tenth of a mile away from the plant. People who lived within that radius were advised to stay in their homes.

By noon, the advisory was lifted and an environmental clean-up company was on the way to the plant to begin cleaning up.

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