City: Tap Water Safe To Drink After Chemical Spill

A chemical accident at the City of Minneapolis Water Works in Columbia Heights yesterday afternoon, causing staff members to evacuate the building, but city tap water is safe to drink according to a city spokesperson.

The accident, which sent Minneapolis, Fridley and Columbia Heights fire department personnel racing to the scene in silver HAZMAT suits, did not at any time risk contamination of the water supply, he said in a written statement.

No injuries were reported among treatment plat staff or first responders.

According to the Star-Tribune, crews accidentally mixed chemicals used to clean the filtration systems: 6,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid and 500 gallons ofcaustic soda, also known as lye. The two react, producing sodium chloride, or table salt, and large amounts of heat. That heat was what set off alarms and sprinklers at the plant, the newspaper said.

The building's sprinkler system ran for about two-and-a-half hours, Columbia Heights Assistant Fire Chief John Larkin said, with excess water flowing into tanks below the building. The water may have helped mitigate the chemical reaction, which generated heat but no fire, he said.

Another thing that helped the situation Tuesday, according to Larkin, was a drill last year in which emergency responders and nearby residents practiced for a leak that unlike Tuesday's incident caused contamination outside the water plant.

With fire crews from Columbia Heights, Fridley, Minneapolis and St. Anthony on hand, two pairs of Minneapolis firefighters donned silvery Level A (totally encapsulating) hazmat suits to enter the buildinga and evaluate the situation at about 3 p.m.

The first team encountered visibility problems and were relieved by the second team, who completed the evaluation. They determined that "temperatures were within a comfortable range," Larkin said, and were satisfied with readings on air quality monitors—meaning it was "OK to come out of their Level A suits."

Other personnel then entered to shut down the sprinkler system, which ran from 1 p.m. until about 3:30 p.m., leaving "a lot of water" in the approximately 50-by-60-foot hydrochloric acid room, Larkin said.

“Water from the Mississippi River is put through a battery of treatments and extensive filtering before it reaches customers,” the Minneapolis statement said. “Thousands of tests are performed to make sure the drinking water that around a half million people get daily is clean and safe.”

The Columbia Heights plant is currently offline, the city said, but its other Fridley facility is still working, keeping Minneapolis, Columbia Heights, Crystal, Golden Valley, Hilltop, New Hope, Bloomington, the airport and the Morningside neighborhood of Edina supplied with water.