MUSCATINE, Iowa – A chemical spill on the tipping floor at the Muscatine Transfer Station closed the facility Monday (Feb. 7) afternoon, but the facility was cleared by the Muscatine Fire Department Monday evening and will reopen for normal hours on Tuesday (Feb. 8).
The Muscatine Fire Department (MFD) responded to the Transfer Station on South Houser Street at 12:30 p.m. Monday following reports that an incident had occurred after some material was dumped on to the tipping floor of the facility and interacted with another chemical on the floor creating a toxic gas.
One employee was treated at the scene but was not transported to the hospital. The employee did seek medical treatment later in the day.
City of Muscatine officials said that the reaction caused by the chemical spill created an unsafe condition for both the public and for employees at the facility. All employees were evacuated from the building prior to the arrival of emergency personnel.
The City of Muscatine immediately closed the facility to the public as a safety precaution.
MFD was on scene within 10 minutes and determined that the chemical reaction released a gas that smelled like bleach. The Hazmat response team was able to isolate the release and worked throughout the afternoon to neutralize the spill.
The entire incident caused several alarms in the area to activate and emergency personnel checked each location out to make sure it was safe. However, there was no hazard to anyone outside of the immediate area and there was no need for evacuation outside of the building involved.
The tipping floor is the area inside the Transfer Station where waste material is dumped by refuse haulers and the public before being transferred to semi-trucks and hauled to the Muscatine County Landfill.
No first responders were injured.