Elementary school evacuated after ammonia leak at Lynchburg dairy

By Aimee Norton

Published: June 4, 2008

Just before 11 a.m. Wednesday, workers at Westover Dairy in Lynchburg called 911. Ammonia was leaking in the plant.  Firefighters and Hazmat crews were there in three minutes.

“It was contained initially within about 20 minutes of our arrival and it completely stopped within an hour,“ said Lynchburg Fire Marshal, Greg Wormser.

People living in the area were told to stay inside.  Superintendent of Lynchburg City Schools, Dr. Paul McKendrick, said he and Wormser decided to evacuate about 250 students and teachers from T.C. Miller Elementary School .  McKendrick said the children were never in danger.  It was just a precautin.

“We felt that evacuating the school was a good idea so that if the situation was to get worse we don’t have to worry about those students being in that school,“ Wormser said.

The 59 employees at Westover Dairy were also evacuated and the emergency plans put into action.

“We evacuated the plant first.  We then responded, went into the facility and isolated the leak, sealed it off,“ Westover Dairy General Manager W.T. Campbell.

Campbel said the ammonia is used as a cooling agent at the plant.  They were able to stop the leak by turning off a valve.  Employees returned to work that afternoon.

“They’ll probably want to eat lunch first, and then we’ll go back to work,“ said Cambell.

Students from T.C. Miller were taken to the auditorium at E.C. Glass High School.  They stayed there until time for dismissal.

The streets surrounding Westover Dairy were reopened just after 1 p.m.