Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Nearly 20 employees of a North Carolina county have gone to the hospital for evaluation after a toxic dry cleaning chemical spill at the county jail.
The Winston-Salem Journal reports (http://bit.ly/1kOSDob ) that Deputy County Manager Damon Sanders-Pratt said not all the workers exposed to the chemical odor Monday felt ill. But he said the county sent them all to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center as a precaution.
Sanders-Pratt said one person vomited after exposure to the odor from the chemical, which he identified as perchloroethylene.
The spill occurred below the floor where inmates are held, and Sanders-Pratt said the area has been closed off. He said building maintenance workers tried to move a dry cleaning machine, which had a label saying it was empty as of 1998. When workers disconnected it, fluid came out.
___
Information from: Winston-Salem Journal, http://www.journalnow.com
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
