Release by Winter Haven Fire Department:
Chemical Spill At Borden Dairy in Winter Haven
** UPDATE ON CHEMICAL SPILL **
The scene at Borden Dairy in Winter Haven has cleared with firefighters completing the sweep of the building to ensure the air quality is suitable for employees to return.
When Winter Haven Fire and Polk County Fire Hazardous Material crews arrived, employees of the building had evacuated and information on the exact makeup of the solution was unavailable. Crews entered the building first to ensure the leak was contained and there were no further leaks in the system.
A second entry was made to gather a sample of the liquid that was leaked to be tested. Due to the training and expertise of both Winter Haven Fire and Polk County Hazardous Material teams, the liquid was tested on site and determined to be a combination of Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Hypochloride, Sodium Polyacrylate, Nitric Acid and Phosphoric Acid. The spill formed a cloud of gas that caused one employee to begin to feel ill. That employee ultimately refused medical treatment and no other employees or firefighters were affected.
“I cannot be more proud of the professionalism of our team working together with Polk County to ensure the safety of Borden employees and the citizens of our community,” Public Safety Director Charlie Bird said. “We have great partnerships across our County and the dedication to the safety of our citizens is priority one.”
Original Release:
Winter Haven Fire and Polk County Hazardous Materials teams are at Borden Dairy (1000 6th St SW) in Winter Haven in response to a chemical spill that occurred this morning (7/29/2020) at approximately 5:40 a.m.
When crews arrived, the safety team at Borden had the spill isolated and employees were evacuating the building. During the shut down of the spill, one employee had a slight exposure, however refused medical treatment and was not transported. There were no other injuries reported.
The public at large is not in danger and there were no evacuations in the surrounding areas. The chemical is possibly a cleaning solution with exact nature of the solution still being determined.
Winter Haven Fire officials remain on scene at this time going through the building ensuring that the leak is in fact shut off completely and there are no further leaks in the system. They will remain on scene until the building can be completely cleared of any chemical in the air.
