MARSHVILLE, N.C.,None — Three months after an explosion and ammonia leak at a local chicken plant, Eyewitness News has uncovered federal documents that show no one contacted environmental officials for hours after the blast.
On Aug. 16, an explosion ripped through a building at Pilgrim's Pride, releasing 20,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia into the air.
"Anhydrous ammonia is considered an extremely hazardous substance," said Ken Rhame with the EPA.
Rhame has been responding to hazmat accidents like the leak at Pilgrim's Pride for 16 years. But in a report he filed with federal officials, he said he wasn't called to that scene for more than 24 hours after the accident
"I think that it was downplayed and they didn't indicate that there was as serious a problem as there really was," Rhame said.
Channel 9 took a closer look at the federal and state documents that give a detailed timeline of what happened.
The pipeline exploded at 4:36 a.m. Pilgrim's Pride employees made their first call to 911 35 minutes later, at 5:11 a.m., but didn't ask for help. When asked if they wanted the fire department to be sent there, they said, "No, everything's taken under control. We just wanted to notify you that there is an ammonia leak up here."
A worker notified the National Response Center in Washington, D.C., describing it as a small leak of about 100 pounds, with no evacuations.
An hour and a half later, at 6:37 a.m., workers called 911 again, this time asking for firefighters' help.
Local officials handled the response alone for the next 10 hours, until someone called the EPA at 5 p.m. to tell Rhame it was 20,000 pounds ammonia -- not 100 -- that was leaking into the air and a nearby creek that runs into the Pee Dee River.
RAW VIDEO: Plant, Homes Northwest Of Plant Evacuated
SLIDESHOW: Plant, Homes In Marshville Evacuated
Still, local fire officials told Rhame "no assistance was required ... and the incident was winding down based on information from Pilgrim's Pride employees."
It wasn't until the following day, at 10:30 a.m., that a state emergency official called Rhame and asked him for help.
That same day, officials discovered a small fish kill in the creek.
It would take another six days to finish the cleanup, which Rhame said could have been faster if Pilgrim's Pride had been more forthcoming.
"You're basing your decisions on information you have on hand, and if the information you have on hand is bad, then it can cause problems with the response," Rhame said.
"I think we had the best information we could get at the time due to the circumstances," said Union County Fire Marshal Neal Speer.
County fire officials are defending their response, saying it was not their responsibility to notify the EPA or the state Department of Natural Resources.
"Normally, that's not our responsibility," Speer said. "It's the responsibility of the company."
So Channel 9 took questions to the company. Pilgrim's Pride GM Ted Lankford acknowledged that they never called the EPA.
Lankford said his workers did give officials the information they needed to respond, despite the delays and misinformation in the initial reports.
Pilgrim's Pride is still under investigation by three government agencies. EPA officials said the emergency plan on site in the factory was more than three years out of date.
"We feel like that it was an accident and we will continue to strive hard to keep everybody safe," Lankford said.
Pilgrim's Pride has been cited twice in the past two years by state environmental officials for failing to pay for permits and not providing up-to-date documentation.
Federal officials have not said when their investigation will be complete.
Previous Stories: August 19, 2011: Plant Employees Wait To Return To Work As Agencies Monitor Air Quality August 16, 2011: Plant, Homes Evacuated Due To Ammonia Leak