A faulty valve at North Port Coolstores led to an ammonia leak and the evacuation of workers from Port Rd late yesterday afternoon.
No one was hurt in the incident, which saw Port Rd cordoned off near Hewlett St soon after 5pm and reopened about 6.30pm. The cool stores are at the end of Port Rd.
North Port Coolstores chief executive Bruce Mulligan said the safety systems had kicked in after a valve on a piece of machinery worked loose and let out "a squirt" of ammonia. The leak was immediately registered by detection equipment and a staff member alerted emergency services, as was standard procedure, Mr Mulligan said.
"The fire service did a great job in the way they responded. It was a very minor leak and a simple matter of turning the valve off, which our staff had already done before making the call."
Four fire appliances attended the call-out, with one ambulance on standby at the road block.
