Shelter-in-place lifted after chemical spill at Allentown water treatment plant
Officials say drinking water was never affected; five workers were checked at the hospital as a precaution
Editor’s note: This is the latest in our continuing coverage of the chemical spill at the LCA WaterWorks plant in Allentown. Earlier updates are available on our page.
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The City of Allentown lifted a precautionary shelter-in-place order Friday evening, about nine hours after a chemical spill at the LCA WaterWorks treatment plant on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
The city announced the order had been lifted shortly after 7 p.m. and thanked residents for their cooperation and patience as emergency crews handled the situation.
The spill was reported about 10 a.m. at the plant at 1300 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, according to Allentown Fire Department Capt. Jon Hammel. Officials said a chemical delivery mix-up put sodium hypochlorite, which is used to treat water, into the wrong tank, where it mixed with polyaluminum chloride. Hammel said the combination can create an inhalation hazard, but the vapor stayed inside the building.
Officials first told residents to shelter in place in an area about a mile south of the plant, from between 8th and Jefferson streets south to Lehigh Street. Mayor Matt Tuerk said about 1,300 residents lived in that area. The order was later changed to a half-mile radius around the plant because the wind shifted. Hammel described it as strictly precautionary.
Five LCA WaterWorks employees were taken to the hospital as a precaution and were expected to be OK, officials said. Workers evacuated from the plant were decontaminated. Officials also asked people experiencing homelessness near the plant to leave the area for their safety.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Lehigh County Emergency Management responded along with city fire crews and two ambulance companies.
Taylor Stakes, the authority’s communications director, said the water system was not compromised and the plant kept running throughout the incident.
Officials have not said whether Martin Luther King Jr. Drive has fully reopened, how much chemical was involved, or what cleanup will be needed.
