Flats residents evacuated after chlorine leak

By CHARLIE BUTERBAUGH

NARROWSBURG, NY — Ronald Schalck and Ted Muller of the Town of Tusten Water and Sewer District barely escaped exposure to deadly chlorine gas last Thursday when a 150-pound tank of compressed liquid chlorine began to leak at Narrowsburg’s Well #1.

“We were removing the tank and we thought the valve was closed. But once I got the first strong smell, I told Ted to ‘get out’, and we called 911,” said Schalck, Narrowsburg’s Water and Sewer Superintendent.

“A couple breaths of chlorine at 1,000 parts per million can be deadly,” he said.

Schalck called 911 from his mother’s nearby home in the flats neighborhood, and soon the Narrowsburg Fire Department, Tusten Ambulance, New York State and Department of Conservation police arrived, followed by Sullivan County Fire Coordinator Dick Martinkovic and HazMat Coordinator Carl Houman. With protective suits, firefighters entered the small well house on Delaware Drive where the chlorine was leaking, shut off the valve and used a fog spray pattern to dissipate the gas. Six people from four homes on Delaware Drive were evacuated.

Schalck said approximately 27 pounds of chlorine had leaked out of the tank.

“Fortunately, the spill happened in an isolated area on the flats. Chlorine is heavier than air, so it settles to the floor, though I could still smell it from 300 feet way,” he said.

Schalck and Muller plan to begin drawing water for Narrowsburg from Well #3 on Route 97, just south of Narrowsburg, because it contains a low concentration of sodium, and they needed to transfer the chlorine tank from Well #1, which is not being used, since Tusten only owns two tanks.

The men were released after tests for skin exposure and pneumonia.

Schalck said a lot of grass was killed, but further investigation of the spill site is unnecessary.