Pennsylvania

Residents in Bucks County Told to Shelter in Place After Chemical Spill

Authorities in a Bucks County township told residents to temporarily shelter in place after a chemical spill at a municipal site.

Crews rushed to the Lower Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority water treatment plant along Main Street in Tulleytown, Pennsylvania around 8:30 a.m. to address a chemical spill, said Tulleytown Borough Police Department Chief Daniel Doyle.

Crews arrived to find a tank of ferric chloride leaking, said police.

"As a PRECAUTIONARY action only we are asking residents & businesses in the area of Main Street to keep windows and doors closed," the borough police posted to Facebook.

Around 11 a.m., police posted to Facebook that the situation was contained and air quality tests determined the air to be safe. The spill also had no adverse effect on the water supply, said police.

Ferric chloride is a colorless to light brown solution with a faint hydrochloric odor, says the National Institutes of Health's Open Chemistry Database. "Highly corrosive to most metals and probably corrosive to tissue. Noncombustible. Used in sewage treatment and water purification."

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