Ammonia death in Fort Erie

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An oil testing company in Hamilton is at the centre of the investigation into the deadly ammonia leak at Rich products in Fort Erie. So far investigators are not identifying the company, but one of its employees is the man who died on Monday afternoon inside the factory.

The leak had triggered the alarm inside Rich products, 85 employees ran for safety, the hospital and 2 nursing homes were notified to lock down and shelter in place.

A man believed to be in his 50’s had died after inhaling concentrations of ammonia so high the levels couldn’t be measured by the firefighters meters. 2 outside truck drivers were rushed to hospital to be treated for ammonia exposure.

“Once it’s inhaled it gets into the lungs, starts turning into an acid. It attacks the mucous membranes and burns the skin.”

Today firefighters were filling tankers with water and pouring it down a drain to flush out the liquid ammonia from the mechanical room. The union says the company has a great safety record but it wants to know what  happened and what safeguards will be in place to ensure it doesn’t happen again.