Chem Building Evacuated After Ammonia Leak
By Rohma Abbas An ammonia leak that prompted an evacuation in the graduate Chemistry building on the morning of Sept. 2 caused no injuries. The building reopened later in the afternoon. "At about 11:05 AM, the Police Department received a call regarding a strong smell of ammonia on the fifth floor of the graduate chemistry building," said interim Police Chief Doug Little. "We were there within a couple of minutes. The building manager was already evacuating the building." "By the time I got there, that building was totally evacuated within five minutes," he said. The Setauket Fire Department and the Suffolk County Police Emergency Services were at the scene, alongside the University Police, the Town of Brookhaven Fire Safety and the university department of Environmental Health and Safety, said Little. Exposure to high levels of ammonia can irritate the eyes, skin, throat and lungs, according to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. In extreme concentrations, it can cause lung damage and death. The leak came from a damaged nozzle on a 150-pound cylinder that Little said was "most likely accidental." After the cylinder was secured, the building was ventilated and it reopened by 3:15 PM according to Little. |
