Crews respond to ammonia leak in New Bedford

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WLNE) — Crews responded to an ammonia leak in New Bedford Wednesday.

New Bedford Fire Chief Scott Kruger said the initial alert came in around 10 a.m. for the reported ammonia leak at the West Terminal Cold Storage Warehousing facility off MacArthur Drive.

Kruger said a central station monitor went off, alerting his crews to immediately head to the facility.

“Unfortunately we have our fair share of them, we’ve had quite a few this year already, so we feel pretty comfortable to safely mitigate the ammonia leak,” said Kruger.

There were around six workers inside, all got out safely and no one had to be taken to the hospital.

The chief referred to the incident as a tier-2 hazmat response, with New Bedford Fire and EMS crews on the scene, as well as the state hazmat team.

The cold storage warehouse stores refrigerated foods, mainly seafood products and the chief said ammonia is used as a refrigerant, possibly leading to the leak.

“These systems are really complex, if you look at the size of these buildings, it’s a huge system,” Kruger said. “The amount of ammonia that pumps into these systems is enormous, they require a lot of maintenance and they are very technical.”

The crews worked all afternoon to find out where the leak was coming from.

Crews were seen on the roof, they even launched a drone with thermal imaging to see if they could discover more.

Once the leak is found, the chief said a fully-suited entry team will go in and repair the leak.

The chief added that there is no harm to the public and the investigation will continue.