Firefighters Cap Chlorine Leak

Thu., Aug. 20, 1998

From Staff Reports

Spokane firefighters had to don gas masks Wednesday evening to close down a leaky chlorine pipe at the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

City engineers are expected to identify the cause of the leak later today.

Workers in one of the secondary treatment buildings detected the leak shortly before 8 p.m. They evacuated the building and called for help.

The room where the chlorine is stored in gas cannisters is sealed from other parts of the building, a fire department spokesman said.

The chlorine is one of several chemicals used to treat waste at the plant along the Spokane River near Riverside State Park.

Members of the fire department’s hazardous materials unit spent about 90 minutes responding to the leak.

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