Anhydrous leak in Hamilton County brought under control

Part of Highway 927 in Hamilton County has re-opened, after it was closed for a time this morning by a toxic leak. HAZMAT crews were called to the spill of anhydrous ammonia reported by a farmers coop in Highview, west of Webster City in Hamilton County. Bruce Ahrens with the Region Five Haz-Mat team says a hose broke on a 12-thousand gallon ammonia tank, and though the valve wasn’t damaged, the hose leak let out a big cloud of ammonia. He says the Webster City fire department came and got the valve closed and the only remaining fumes were from some leaked residue on the ground. Ahrens praised the training that keeps hazardous-materials response teams ready to cope with this kind of emergency.One worker at the co-op was taken to a hospital, apparently sickened by fumes from the leak. They didn’t have to order an evacuation.