CSB Announces Investigation of Ammonia Leak at Sterling, VA Food Production Facility

The Chemical Safety Board announced today that it was launching an investigation into an anhydrous ammonia release at the Cuisine Solutions, Inc., a food processing facility in Loudon County, VA. The accident occurred last night and 33 personnel were transported to the hospital. Only three remain hospitalized this evening.

The Washington Post (acting a local newspaper for this incident) is reporting that:

“Wednesday’s incident, which was prompted by a failed valve, occurred at a building in the 22400 block of Sous Vide Lane in Sterling, at a commercial complex north of the airport where nearly 300 people were working Wednesday night. The fire department initially said that the leak occurred inside a building but later said that the leak occurred outside and that ammonia had been pulled inside the facility through an HVAC system.”

The Washington Post article is an interesting discussion about the incident, much more detailed than one typically gets from local newspapers. See, for instance, the other two local reports about the incident (here and here).

The Chemical Safety Board currently has three open investigations listed on its website. Neither of two recently ‘announced’ investigations (here and here) have made it to that page. It is not clear what the current status of those two ‘investigations’ is.