A view of the Prime Pak Foods plant in Gainesville, GA. The statement includes new facts on the liquid nitrogen release at the Foundation Foods Group poultry plant.
US Chemical Safety Board’s (CSB) chairman and chief executive officer Katherine A. Lemos issued a statement Monday offering new details gleaned from the agency’s investigation of a fatal liquid nitrogen release at the Foundation Foods Group poultry plant in Gainesville, GA last Thursday.
Six people died and a number of others were injured in the incident at the Prime-Pak Foods processing plant. The latest statement released by the CSB includes “key facts” that the agency has uncovered during its investigation.
Investigation Into Fatal Gas Leak At Georgia Poultry Plant Could Take Years
By Jaclyn Diaz
February 2, 2021
A fatal nitrogen gas leak at a poultry processing plant in Georgia last week occurred as unplanned maintenance was being done on a recently installed processing and freezing line, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board said Monday.
The leak at the Gainesville, Ga., Foundation Food Group plant killed six people, sent 12 others to the hospital, and forced the plant’s 130 other workers to evacuate. A release of liquid nitrogen gas pushes out oxygen from the air and makes it unbreathable.
The New York Times, citing a Foundation Food Group spokesperson, reported the accident was the result of a ruptured line carrying liquid nitrogen, which is used to freeze chicken. A representative from the company didn’t respond to NPR’s request for comment on that report.
The Jan. 28 nitrogen gas leak at the Gainesville, Ga. Foundation Food Group plant killed six people and sent 12 others to the hospital.
A fatal nitrogen gas leak at a poultry processing plant in Georgia last week occurred as unplanned maintenance was being done on a recently installed processing and freezing line, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board said Monday.
The leak at the Gainesville, Ga., Foundation Food Group plant killed six people, sent 12 others to the hospital, and forced the plant s 130 other workers to evacuate. A release of liquid nitrogen gas pushes out oxygen from the air and makes it unbreathable.
6 Killed In Liquid Nitrogen Leak At Georgia Poultry Plant
Friday, January 29, 2021
A liquid nitrogen leak at a Gainesville, Ga., poultry processing plant killed six people and sent 11 others to the hospital Thursday.
Elijah Nouvelage / AFP via Getty Images
A liquid nitrogen leak at a poultry plant northeast of Atlanta killed six workers and sent 11 more to the hospital Thursday. At least three of the people hospitalized are in critical condition, officials said.
Local, state, and federal police and health and safety investigators are looking for what may have caused the leak at the Gainesville, Ga., Foundation Food Group plant. They cautioned Thursday it may be some time before they find out what happened.