This article is from page 2 of the 2011-03-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
ONE man was taken to hospital for precautionary reasons following the accidental spillage of 250 litres of sulphuric acid at the Organic Lens manufacturing plant in Ennis on Friday.
The incident occurred at 6.30am in the chemical storage area of the plant, which is located in the Gort Road Industrial Estate. The plant, which is owned by Essilor Ireland, manufactures ophthalmic corrective lenses. It has 310 people employed there.
Employees were evacuated from the building, while six units of the fire brigade from Ennis and Shannon attended the scene. 50 of the plant’s night shift workers were in the building when the incident occurred.
It is thought two drums of 98 per cent sulphuric acid fell from a pallet while they were being moved with one of the drums bursting.
No one was injured in the incident though one man was brought to Ennis General Hospital, “just as a precaution” a company spokesperson confirmed yesterday.
Employees returned to work later on Friday while a full clean up of the storage has taken place, the spokesperson said.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Health and Safety Authority were informed of the incident. An EPA inspector visited the site and verified that the spill- age was contained.
In a statement, Jim Crampton, General Manager, outlined the details of the spill. “At approximately, 6.30am Organic Lens Manufacturing had an accidental spillage of 250 litres of sulphuric acid in the chemical storage area. As part of our plant emergency procedures, the plant was evacuated and the local fire brigade alerted,” he said.
Mr Crampton also thanked emergency services and employees for their assistance.
He added, “The fire brigade are assisting the company with the clean up procedures. There were no injuries to any of our employees and the plant is returning to full production. All relevant statutory bodies have being notified. We thank the fire brigade staff and our employees for their assistance.”
The incident is the first of its kind to have occurred at the plant, which opened in Ennis in 1991.
Human Resources manager Amy O’Leary explained that a “small” chemical spill had previously taken place but this had been dealt with at the time by fully trained and equipped in house staff. “We’ve never had the fire services out here before,” she added.
Essilor is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of ophthalmic lenses. The company has been in Ireland since 1973 when a glass manufacturing facility was first established in Limerick.