Evacuations still in place after Langley ammonia leak

LANGLEY (NEWS 1130) –  An ammonia leak in an industrial park in Langley Township still has people waiting to return to work.

Firefighters are still dealing with the leak area as of Thursday evening and keeping people out in the case the leak of the hazerdous chemical expands. Some roads in the area have been re-opened – 275 Street at 55, 52, 51A, 50A and 48 Avenues – and the evacuation zone has been reduced.

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R.C.M.P., WorkSafe B.C., the Ministry of Environment and ammonia technicians have been been in-and-out of the area today. Langley Dep. Fire Chief Russ Jenkins says they’re working to make sure the ammonia is cleared out.

“We’ve been venting off the residual ammonia just to reduce the quantity. We’re trying to get it down to a safe level to transport out,” he says. “We are just waiting to remove some of the residual ammonia, and then we’re hoping to reduce the evacuation zone to about a one-block perimeter.”

The Langley fire department evacuated businesses around 7 a.m. Wednesday after a leak near Highway 1 and 264th began yesterday morning when a refrigerator at a pet-food manufacturing company malfunctioned.

So far, Jenkins says he doesn’t expect anyone to have been hurt from the leak, and they’re continuing to monitor the air quality in the area.

“Once the leak was identified, the area was evacuated immediately,” he says. “There’s no reported injuries. We have air-monitoring equipment all throughout the streets there. No reports of any significant ammonia at all.”

Save-On-Foods has its distribution warehouse in the area and has had to use alternate distribution methods to stock shelves. Air quality and food hasn’t been affected, but they’re having to use alternate distribution methods to restock stores.

– With files from Monica Gull, Travis Prasad, Hana Mae Nassar