CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A chlorine leak at the Sherard Water Treatment Plant that temporarily closed down Happy Jack Road Sunday morning was caused by a defective tank valve, according to the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities.
BOPU Public Affairs Coordinator Erin Lamb said the facility’s alarms detected the leak at around 8:30 a.m. Earlier, crew members had received and hooked up a tank of chlorine gas from the plant’s product manufacturing company. They discovered that the valve, which was attached to the tank, was unable to be switched off.
“The [valve] had a defect from the manufacturer,” she said. “When we hook it up, it’s already on the tank and it’s not something we could make adjustments to on site.”
Laramie County Emergency Management teams were immediately notified to come to the plant’s 1821 Happy Jack Road location, Lamb said. The Wyoming Highway Patrol temporarily closed down the road between mile markers 3 and 8 so the fire department, EMS and AMR could access the situation for potentially hazardous conditions.
The leak was contained to the facility and did not pose a danger to the public.
“It was a low small flow leak that was contained in the facility and contained within the water treatment plant,” she said.
This is the first time in Lamb’s four-year stint with the BOPU that a chlorine leak has occurred at the plant.
“I’ve never experienced something like that, not within the last four years,” she said.
To prevent future machinery leaks, Lamb said the center is conducting an incident report with its manufacturing company. Another internal report will be conducted for the center’s staff to review their emergency response plan. Lamb said that the center already has a thorough plan in place and that crew members followed it closely on Sunday.
