Follow-Up: At Least 60 Treated After Toledo Chemical Leak; Jeep Plant Cancels Two Shifts, South Plant Idled for the Week
The number of people treated after a chemical tank leak in Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, is higher than earlier reported. The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department said Wednesday evening that at least 60 people were treated for symptoms potentially related to the release. The hospital system ProMedica had earlier put the count at roughly 30 to 35 at its own hospitals, the figure GSM cited in its October 21 follow-up as of 5 p.m. that day; the health department's count covers facilities citywide and is higher.
The industrial impact also came into focus. Stellantis's North Toledo Jeep Assembly Complex, which builds the Wrangler and Gladiator and sits about a mile from the site inside the evacuation zone, was evacuated on the night of October 20, and its first and second shifts on October 21 were both canceled, spokesperson Jodi Tinson told the Detroit Free Press; the south plant, inside the three-mile shelter-in-place zone, is not running for the rest of the week. UAW Vice President Kevin Gotinsky said the union is closely monitoring the spill's effect on members and that worker safety is the top priority.
Bryant Somerville, a spokesperson for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, said the released chemical was glycidyl methacrylate, an industrial coating ingredient, from a 5,500-gallon tank, and that the release resulted from an error while the material was being transferred. Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz initially described the incident as an explosion; a city spokesperson later clarified that no explosion occurred.
The release began around 9:30 p.m. on October 20, when a tank ruptured at the MC Tank Transport terminal at 1266 Progress Avenue, billowing a white plume for hours. About 983 people within one mile were evacuated and more than 50,000 people within three miles were advised to shelter in place; the shelter-in-place order was lifted Wednesday afternoon and the evacuation zone was reduced to a half-mile. (GSM, based on reporting by The Associated Press and the Detroit Free Press)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：俄亥俄州 Toledo 市的 Veterans' Glass City Skyway 大桥（资料图），泄漏事故发生地位于该市北部工业区。照片：Lance Woodworth 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Veterans' Glass City Skyway in Toledo, Ohio (file photo); the release occurred in the city's northern industrial area. Photo: Lance Woodworth, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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