The call came in at 10:34 a.m. Wednesday. A tanker truck was unloading 30,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia when a hose ruptured, unleashing the toxic chemical into the air at Cathay Industries in Washington Township.
The truck driver was knocked unconscious and two plant workers were injured.
In the end, everyone was fine. The toxic leak was staged, part of a disaster drill held at Cathay, 4901 Evans Ave., which drew a wide array of first responders and emergency workers.
The Porter County Local Emergency Planning Committee is tasked every year with running a training exercise, said Greg Eckhardt, the drill chair. Rick Trapp, the environmental manager at Cathay, agreed to host the exercise.
“Plus, it’s going to help him do his environmental plan,” Eckhardt said.
Cathay uses waste acid from the steel mills to make pigment.
“We make a food-grade material with it and the primary end of it is women’s cosmetics,” Trapp said, adding the company’s products also go into pet food and other products.
While emergency responders including the Washington Township Fire Department and the Porter County Bomb Squad have done drills at the facility before, Trapp said the large scale of Wednesday’s drill constituted a first for the company.
Simulated chemical spray misted over the scene of the mock accident where the truck driver laid on the ground. Within a few minutes of the call, a Washington Township fire truck pulled onto the property and a firefighter conferred with a plant employee.
“We’ll sit down in a couple weeks with the major players and go over, ‘Here’s what went wrong, here’s what went right,'” Eckhardt said, noting everyone learns something every year. “Usually communication is one of the things we need to improve.”
The nearby Washington Township schools were in on the drill as well, and were told to have students shelter in place while the scenario played out.
“I encourage them that this is a good time to test your staff,” Eckhardt said, comparing the exercise to a tornado or fire drill. He said one of the scenario’s evaluators would go over to the schools and to judge the response there.
Sgt. Jamie Erow, public relations officer for the Porter County Sheriff’s Department, took part in the exercise, too, fielding questions from media about what chemical was released, how many people were injured, and evacuation plans for a 2.7-mile radius around Cathay.
Also on the scene were representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which provides some funding for the drills while doing community outreach.
“They’re here doing their jobs and at the end of the day, we will determine if they have gaps to cover,” said Mick Hans, chief of chemical emergency preparedness and prevention for the EPA’s Superfund division.
Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
