Chlorine leak at McKeesport MAWC facility

By JEFF STITT

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McKeesport firefighters and an Allegheny County Hazardous Materials crew responded to a small chlorine leak at the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County’s McKeesport water treatment facility Thursday morning. 

Fire Chief Jeffrey Tomovcsik said firefighters were dispatched to the facility shortly before 8 a.m. after MAWC workers received an alert that a one-ton chlorine cylinder, which is kept in a sealed holding room, was leaking chlorine.

Tomovcsik said firefighters arrived on scene and found that a valve on the tank was malfunctioning. Firefighters and MAWC technicians were unable to stop the leak.

“Pretty much all we did was ensure that no one went into the facility and that the chlorine remained in the room and didn’t emanate out into the environment,” Tomovcsik said.

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