Ammonia leak at N.C. Pilgrim's Pride plant forces evacuations

Tools

AP reports

Story Created: Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:36 AM

Story Updated: Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:38 AM

MARSHVILLE, N.C. — Authorities have evacuated more than 100 people following an ammonia leak at a turkey processing plant in Union County.

WSOC-TV reports that ammonia leaked from a refrigeration unit about 4 a.m. Tuesday at the Pilgrim's Pride plant near Marshville.

Plant employees were evacuated. Local police also evacuated a 1.5-mile area downwind of the plant as a precaution. No injuries have been reported.

Marshville Mayor Frank Deese says company officials told him the leak was due to either over-pressurization or an explosion in a freezer.

A plant spokesman said earlier that the first shift was canceled due to a utility problem.