JAY – More than 100 employees were evacuated from International Paper after chlorine dioxide leaked from a cracked pipe at about 11 a.m. No one was injured and the chemical dissipated quickly.

Chlorine dioxide is made at the mill and then sent to various areas in the mill to be used in the pulp bleaching, said IP spokesperson Fiona McCaul.

Employees from the administrative building and paper machine area were evacuated as a precaution, she said.

They were able to go back in the building in about an hour, she said. The paper machines never had to shut down during that time, she said.

IP’s Hazardous Materials Team handled the leak.

Jay’s Environmental Code Enforcement Officer Shiloh Ring, Fire Chief Brian Shink, Police Chief Larry White Sr. and Franklin County Emergency Management Director Tim Hardy went to the mill.

Ring said that some of the spillage went to the mill’s sewer system and, because of the day’s warm temperatures, a lot of it dissipated when it hit the outside area.

White said less than 500 gallons of the diluted chemical leaked out.

“It wasn’t pure,” he said. “It was diluted.”

White said the only problem he had was with late notification of the spill, which is going to be addressed.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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