9 confirmed treated after acid leak

CANTON — Last week’s spill of a toxic and potentially flammable chemical from a delivery truck at a local poultry plant prompted the evacuation of hundreds of residents and workers and sent some Cherokee residents to the hospital, but one resident says he is concerned that more people may have been affected than was previously reported.

The chemical leak will be investigated by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The spill of Organic Peroxide Type F, a chemical commonly used for industrial sterilization, occurred on Friday afternoon at the Pilgrim’s Pride chicken plant, shutting down Interstate 575 and Univeter Road and prompting the ambulance transport of two plant workers and two construction workers to Northside Hospital Cherokee.

A spokeswoman for Northside Hospital Cherokee confirmed on Wednesday that a total of nine people had been treated there in connection with Friday’s spill.

Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jay Baker confirmed on Thursday that a 300-gallon container of the chemical, weighing an estimated 3,000 pounds, leaked until empty over the course of the truck’s route.

Stuart Streck, with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s hazardous materials safety division, said Thursday that U.S. DOT is at the very early stages of its investigation into the spill.

The agency is still collecting documents from all relevant companies and agencies, he said.