More than a dozen people were hospitalized, including two in critical condition, after falling ill from an ammonia leak at a food processing facility in Rhode Island on Thursday night, officials said.
Hazmat teams were working to ventilate the Infinity Fresh Kitchen facility, which is run in partnership with Taylor Farms in North Kingston, after an anhydrous ammonia leak around 6 p.m., according to the state’s Department of Environmental Management.
Thirteen people were hospitalized and two are in critical condition, the department said.
“We had people coming out of the building complaining that they were smelling of ammonia with irritation to their eyes and throats. There was no liquid ammonia leak, it was all vapor,” North Kingstown Fire Chief John Linacre told WJAR.
The Department of Environmental Management explained that a technician at the facility turned the ammonia system off, so a full evacuation wasn’t required.
The agency is still probing the cause of the leak. Linacre told the outlet that they suspected it originated from a valve on the roof that came loose, which created an opening for the air intake to suck the ammonia into the facility.
Taylor Farms was previously fined a whopping $650,000 for an ammonia leak that stemmed from its refrigeration system and sent 15 employees to the hospital in 2020.
Last week, 36 people were hospitalized, including four in critical condition, after ammonia leaked out of a tanker truck that was rolling through a small city in Oklahoma. Roughly 600 people in the surrounding area had to shelter in place for hours until officials gave the all-clear.
In 2022, one HVAC contractor died and another was sickened at a food plant in Massachusetts when an ammonia pipe they were working near started to leak.
Exposure to ammonia can cause severe irritation, burns, and difficulty breathing. In high concentrations, it can lead to life-threatening conditions.
