Del Rey, California: Chemical Leak at POM Wonderful Plant Sends 11 People to Hospital and Forces 150 Evacuations

A leak of cleaning solution at the POM Wonderful plant in Del Rey on Sunday afternoon sent 11 people to local hospitals, led responders to evaluate 58 people and forced the evacuation of at least 150 workers, Cal Fire and the Fresno County Fire Protection District said.

The leak was reported at about 4:15 p.m. near Jefferson Avenue and Del Rey Avenue in Del Rey, an unincorporated community southeast of Fresno. A report the company filed after the incident describes about a gallon of BioSide HS 15 percent, a cleaning solution, leaking through a pinhole in a transfer line onto wet asphalt. Employees reported difficulty breathing and feeling lightheaded.

What fire officials said

"Earlier today, firefighters responded to a chemical spill in the area of Jefferson Ave and Delray Ave. The substance was identified as a cleaning solution. A total of 58 patients were evaluated, with 11 transported to local hospitals for further medical evaluation," Cal Fire and Fresno County Fire said in a statement carried by ABC30.

KMPH reported that the plant had contained the source of the leak before firefighters arrived, that the substance was a biocide, and that no serious injuries were reported. An officer told ABC30 that nobody in the community was affected by the spill, that Del Rey residents were notified, and that there was no exposure outside the factory itself. Fire officials called the incident isolated, said it was handled quickly, and said there was no current threat to the public.

Workers return the same night

After testing at the site, officials lifted the evacuations and workers were able to return the same night. No official update on the condition of the 11 people taken to hospitals had been released in the reports published by Monday.

The Del Rey plant is POM Wonderful's main manufacturing location for its pomegranate business. Millions of pomegranates are processed into juice at the site, and the company also makes its bottles there. The incident drew a hazardous materials response in a small farming community where the plant is one of the largest employers, and it closed with the plant back in operation the same night. Officials released no names of the workers who were evaluated or taken to hospitals, and the reports published by Monday gave no cause for the pinhole failure beyond the company's own filing. The leak itself was small, about a gallon, but the vapor it produced was enough to send workers out of the building and bring a county hazardous materials response to a plant that sits in the middle of farmland southeast of Fresno.