Syracuse, NY- On Friday, July 5, 2024, at 7:32 a.m., Syracuse Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Response Team was dispatched to the City of Oneida, in Madison County, to assist the City of Oneida Fire Department on a Hazardous Materials Incident. Leak detection equipment at the City of Oneida Wastewater Treatment Facility on Harden St., had detected a chlorine gas leak in a room inside the facility. Chlorine gas is an extremely hazardous, heavier-than-air gas that can cause serious injury or death in people exposed to it in high concentrations.
Syracuse Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Response Team, or HAZMAT, is part of a three-county consortium including Onondaga, Oswego, and Madison Counties. It is one of the main HAZMAT response units for the consortium. They are a Type I team, which means they have the capability to respond to, and mitigate, the most serious types of Hazardous Materials emergencies. As the crew from SFD HAZMAT began the 35-minute response to the site, members of the team began to formulate a plan to mitigate the hazard.
When crews arrived in Oneida they were met by members of the Oneida City Fire Department, and Madison County Office of Emergency Management, as well as staff from the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Working with the other responders at the scene, HAZMAT members were briefed on the situation and made a plan to enter the room where the leak was located and stop the leak. HAZMAT team members donned fully encapsulated chemical protective clothing in the form of Level A suits. These suits are the highest level of protection HAZMAT team members utilize and are reserved for the most hazardous emergencies. Once in their protective gear, team members began the process of air monitoring and worked to determine the severity of the leak. The initial concentration of chlorine in the air in the room where the leak was occurring was more than 5 times the safe limit. Crews were directed by plant staff on how to navigate plumbing in the room and were also given instructions on how to stop the leak. Several backup plans were also discussed, to ensure they were able to get the job done. After more than thirty minutes working to stop it, the leak was secured, and the crews exited the structure. Thanks to quick action by plant staff and Oneida City Fire, the leak was contained to the room where the Chlorine tanks were stored. There was no exterior release of the chemical, and no danger to the public. There were no injuries reported as a result of this incident. Once the leak was secured, specialized ventilation fans at the plant took care of any remaining chemical in the air, and the plant was able to resume normal operation. Although these incidents are infrequent, members of the Syracuse Fire Department Hazardous Materials Response Team train to deal with them often.
