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Emergency workers ordered a broader evacuation near a meat plant Monday, fearing a tank of anhydrous ammonia might catch fire amid smoldering debris. Meanwhile, a state official said Arkansas would seek ways to help rebuild the shattered packinghouse.
An explosion in the freezer section of the Cargill Meat SAlutions plant yesterday destroyed much of the plant, which employs 800 people in a town of 4,000. Workers were told to stay away Monday and a plant personnel manager said a decision on rebuilding would come later.
State economic officials are discussing the economic impact with local officials and hope to talk to Cargill about its plans for the plant.
The company says executives will evaluate the plant in the days ahead.
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Emergency crews Monday cleared homes and businesses within a half-mile of the plant over worries that an anhydrous ammonia tank might catch fire amid smolder debris, the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management said. The evacuation order covered much of the eastern side of town.
ADEM said the plant had stored 88,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia and 100,000 pounds of nonflammable carbon dioxide. Piping carried the refrigerants throughout the plant.
A spokeswoman for the emergency response effort, Tanya Roberts, said Sunday that gauges showed that much of the ammonia tanks were empty. A new alarm emerged late Monday morning about another tank, however, forcing the expanded evacuation.
Logan County Emergency Manager Don Fairbanks said Sunday that workers welding fans noticed a fire after putting away their equipment. As the fire grew, a series of small explosions rocked the 150,000-square-foot plant, he said.
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Cargill produces about 2 million pounds of ground beef and steak a week at the plant, which is closed on Sundays. A handful of workers and contractors were at the plant Sunday.
Logan County Judge Edgar Holt, the county's chief administrative officer, estimated the plant was worth more than 100 million dollars before the fire - and had just finished a 40 million-dollar expansion.
The Minneapolis-based meatpacker has about 2,000 employees in Arkansas.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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