Ammonia leak at ethanol plant sends one to hospital

BOYCEVILLE — An ammonia leak at the Big River Resources ethanol plant located along State Road 170 just east of the Village of Boyceville sent one person to the hospital Thursday, May 29 and initiated protocol for a hazardous material incident.

Emergency personnel from the Boyceville EMS and Fire Departments, Colfax and Glenwood City Fire Departments, the Menomonie Fire Department Hazmat Team and the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department responded at 3:20 p.m. that afternoon to a reported ammonia leak at the Big River Resources Boyceville, LLC ethanol plant at N10185 370th Street in the Dunn County township of Hay River.

Dan Knops, Boyceville Fire Department Captain and senior fire officer on the scene, said that the initial call was for an explosion of ammonia at the plant.

Knops said that upon arrival fire officials discovered that a pressure release valve on a tank containing ammonia had “opened up” and was leaking the gas. He also noted that one person working near the tank had been exposed to the ammonia gas when it was suddenly released. Boyceville EMS personnel had already transported the injured individual to Mayo Clinic Health System in Menomonie prior to the arrival of the fire departments. As of Monday evening (June 2), Knops did not know the extent of the injuries the individual had suffered or the prognosis.

The individual that was hurt according to Knops was apparently a contractor that was working on the construction of a CO2 manufacturing facility at the Boyceville location. Knops did note that the CO2 plant was not in operation at the time of the incident.

Knops reported that the Boyceville Fire Department did implement a MABAS (Mutual Aid Box Alarm System) for hazardous material immediately after arriving on the scene. This was the same system that was implemented during the Glenhaven fire this past January. There is a pre-scripted and pre-planned situation card for different incidents noted Knops.

“We accessed the situation quickly and gave (Dunn County) dispatch the incident card number and they paged out the necessary units that are listed on that card,” said Knops.

Firefighters discovered that the tank release valve was still leaking ammonia when they arrived so Knops said everyone was evacuated from both the ethanol plant complex and partially built CO2 facility.

As fire personnel were preparing to go in and try to stop the leak, it self-sealed, noted Knops.

“We do not have a reason yet as to why the release valve went off,” added Knops.

Emergency personnel were able to clear the scene after about two and a half hours. No other injuries were reported.