Thurrock: Plant Evacuated After Chemical Spill

11 July 2013, 09:21 | Updated: 11 July 2013, 10:36

Emergency services have been called an industrial estate in Thurrock following a chemical spill.

A chemical plant at Titan Industrial Estate had to be evacuated at around 6am today (Thursday 11 July) after 66 tones of hydrochloric acid spilled from a collapsed container.

Four fire crews and police were called to the scene.

Hogg Lane was closed for around two hours as a precaution.

There are no reports any injuries.

Assistant Divisional Officer Tony Clark, incident commander, said: "The spillage occurred after a storage tank failed and collapsed. Most of the acid was contained in a bund and all of it was trapped in the site's completely enclosed drainage system. They have their own treatment plant as part of the drainage system so none of the liquid chemical will enter the environment.

"When crews arrived a vapour cloud had already began to form. The site is in a quarry which helped to contain the cloud initially.

"On site crews used a water spray to initially contain the cloud then eventually to dilute and disperse it. The time of day and the direction of the wind means that the cloud did not pose a significant risk to anyone living nearby."