Strong smell alerts crews
A small amount of ammonia leaked from a valve Sunday night.
By CATHERINE SHOICHET and ELENA LESLEY, Times Staff Writers
Published November 19, 2007
RIVERVIEW - The strong smell of ammonia brought hazmat crews, firefighters and deputies back to U.S. 301 and Riverview Drive on Sunday night.
But only a small amount of ammonia leaked from a valve north of the Alafia River.
"Because it happened here in the same location, it scared everybody," Hillsborough County Fire Rescue spokesman Capt. Bruce Delk said as firetrucks and patrol cars pulled away about 10:15 p.m. "All this was done as a precaution."
Deputies shut down U.S. 301 near the bridge for about an hour while crews from Tampa Pipeline fixed the leak, which they described as routine maintenance caused by pressure build-up in the pipeline.
Tampa Pipeline contractors at the scene declined to comment. Delk said they added grease to the valve to fix the small leak, which produced a strong smell of ammonia near the bridge, but no visible cloud.
After about an hour, the bridge was open again and rescue crews had left the scene. No homes or businesses were evacuated.
Delk described the leak as "burping," which he said commonly occurs with pipeline valves.
"No one usually notices, but this time, they did," he said.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office received several calls reporting the smell about 8 p.m. Sunday.
When fire rescue crews responded to the scene, they did not detect a leak and left.
After more people called to report the smell, Delk said, they returned to the scene and were flagged down by a photojournalist from ABC Action News, who told them he had found the leak while walking north over the bridge.
"The smell was just overpowering," photojournalist Scott Wilson said. "It practically knocked me over."
Hundreds of residents were evacuated from the Riverview area last week when a 16-year-old boy punctured a section of ammonia pipeline with a drill.
The boy and his friends had heard a local legend that there was stolen money hidden in the pipe.
But as soon as one managed to pierce the surface Monday evening, toxic gas began spurting out, sending him to Tampa General Hospital with second-degree burns.
With ammonia seeping through a tiny hole, officials called for the evacuations of everyone in a half-mile radius, U.S. 301 was shut down and schools closed. Ammonia is a caustic chemical that can cause tissue and vegetation burns.
Wednesday, residents were allowed to return to their homes.
Ammonia, which is used to make fertilizer, runs in underground pipes from a port near the edge of Tampa Bay to a chemical plant in Mulberry. Only a small section of the pipeline is unprotected under the U.S. 301 bridge in Riverview.