News - Education

Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

Freon leak causes school to evacuate

Superintendent wants repairs done after hours

HARRISON COUNTY — Repair work on an air-conditioning compressor unit at West Harrison High School can no longer be done during school hours, the school district superintendent said Friday morning during an evacuation for a Freon leak.

About 1,000 students, along with faculty and staff, spent about 11/2 hours on the football field as emergency responders gathered for an incident reported as a massive hazardous-materials release.

Freon leaked from a compressor unit that a subcontractor is replacing. No injuries were reported.

“This has major liability issues and someone is going to be held accountable,” said Superintendent Henry Arledge. “The company doing this work has shown no concern whatsoever for the safety of our students.”

Freon is a non-toxic chemical refrigerant but “it pushes out available oxygen,” said Dean Ullock of the Environmental Protection Agency.

“If you’re in a confined space and don’t get out, you can suffocate. Plus it can cause frostbite if you come in contact with the vapor.”

It’s the new school’s second evacuation over a problem with the compressor unit.

“We can’t just bus students home this time of day or turn the teenagers out loose on the road,” Arledge said.

Principal Cliff Newell said he noticed “a cloud of haze” on the second floor of the north wing about 8:20 a.m. The immediate area was evacuated, followed by the rest of the building.

“The call came in as an ammonia leak with a man down or missing,” said County Fire Marshal George Mixon. “It turned out it wasn’t ammonia and the missing man was a subcontractor worker who had left to run to a store.”

Responding agencies included the Harrison County Emergency Management Agency, South Mississippi Regional Response Team, Gulfport Fire Department hazmat team, American Medical Response and the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department.

Maintenance personnel aired out the building and firefighters in protective gear went in with gas-sniffing devices. The evacuation was lifted about 10 a.m.

Ullock said the EPA will work with the school to make sure the workers are following proper safety procedures.

Arledge said Roy Anderson Corp. is the general contractor.

He wasn’t sure of the subcontractor’s name.

“It all falls back on the general contractor,” Mixon said.

A couple of parents who heard about the incident came to pick up their children.

One woman said her daughter has asthma.