No risk of ammonia contamination, officials say, after fire at Oregon seafood plant prompted evacuations

There was no further threat of ammonia contamination, officials said Sunday afternoon, after they earlier urged people to evacuate for fear of potential health risks following a seafood processing plant fire in coastal Oregon.

Authorities responded to the blaze at Pacific Seafood, a major seafood processing and distribution plant, in the city of Newport’s Bayfront neighborhood just before 9 a.m., city spokesperson John Fuller said at an afternoon news conference.

As of 4 p.m. local time, officials said there was no threat of ammonia contamination. The state fire marshal said that an ammonia tank had been found and that it didn’t seem to be punctured or leaking.

Newport Fire Chief Rob Murphy said at the news conference that while trace amounts of ammonia were initially detected, there was no ongoing risk of ammonia exposure.

“Between all the firefighters and our regional hazmat team, they did an excellent job of protecting those tanks and keeping them, you know, from something worse happening,” Murphy said. “I can tell you that the tanks are intact; they’re not leaking. The product inside them is stable and will remain so.”

As of Sunday afternoon, he said, the main environmental concern was smoke produced by the…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business