The incident occurred at the Norfolk Environmental Waste Services (NEWS) facility at Costessey at around midday on Monday. A total of 35 staff were evacuated from the site and treated by paramedics on site.
” Fumes came off the bottle and affected members of staffs' eyes and throats – in some cases it also affected breathing.“
– Steve Jenkins, NEWS
Staff noticed a bottle on one of the plant's conveyor belts that contained some kind of liquid, but on depositing it down a chute some of the substance escaped.
Steve Jenkins, local authority contract manager for NEWS, told letsrecycle.com: “Fumes came off the bottle and affected members of staffs' eyes and throats – in some cases it also affected breathing. Operations were stopped immediately and staff were evacuated from the site.”
All clear
NEWS has said that all 35 members of staff on site were checked by paramedics and given the all clear before being sent home. Police and fire services closed the roads surrounding the site, but a police spokeswoman said that as the substance did not escape from the site this is as far as their involvement went.
The fire brigade assessed the situation following the incident and hazardous waste specialists Asco have now been brought in to clean the site up. The facility was expected to be running as normal this morning.
Norfolk county council has said it will highlight the incident as part of an awareness campaign for residents, to encourage householders to ensure the correct materials are placed in recycling collections.
| Related links: |
Mr Jenkins said: “We are pleased with Norfolk's plan, because aside form this incident we do get a lot of contaminants because residents are not fully aware of what can process. This is the first time we have had a dangerous substance turn up on the site though,” he added.
Asco is now testing the substance in order to establish its composition.
Subscribe for free