Faulty plug blamed for sulfur dioxide leak
Fri, Sep 26, 2008 
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BY BRIAN KEILEN
bkeilen@grandhaventribune.com
A small plug was responsible for evacuating a five-block area on the city's northeast side Thursday after it began leaking sulfur dioxide at the wastewater treatment plant, 1525 Washington Ave.
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About 75 homes were evacuated for more than three hours after the plug on a one-ton tank began leaking, Grand Haven/Spring Lake Area Sewer Authority Superintendent John Stuparits said. The leak was detected by an employee who smelled the sulfur dioxide and immediately contacted authorities at around 4:30 p.m., he said.
According to Grand Haven Department of Public Safety Capt. Rick Yonker, the department evacuated the area and the Ottawa County Hazardous Materials Team was called in to seal the leak. They used a special kit to plug the hole, Stuparits said, which was completed shortly before 7 p.m. Before the all clear was sounded, a second Haz Mat team discovered a smaller leak, which was also capped.
A staging area was set up at Sluka Field and Harbor Transit buses were available to transport evacuees to the First Christian Reformed Church on the corner of Waverly and Ferry Streets. Residents were able to return to their homes around 8 p.m. No injuries were reported.
"It ran very well," Yonker said. "We had a coordinated team."
Sulfur dioxide is used to neutralize chlorine in the plant's cleaning process, Stuparits said. It is an irritant to the chest and lungs, and can cause burns if it comes in contact with the skin. At high enough concentrations, it can be fatal.
Sulfur dioxide is constantly used at the plant, and new tanks are brought in about every two months, Stuparits said. He estimated that the tank responsible for the leak had been at the plant for about a week, but only started leaking Thursday afternoon.
"It was certainly a malfunction of the tank," Stuparits said.
The plug is designed to melt away and release pressure in case of explosion, but in this case began leaking itself.
This was the first plug malfunction Stuparits said he's seen in the nearly 29 years he's worked at the wastewater treatment plant. Despite it being a small leak, he said, the precautions were necessary.
"You treat it like a worst-case scenario," he said. "A leak is a leak, and we need to address it."
