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Longmorn Distillery evacuated after chemical spill

Chivas Brothers-owned Longmorn Distillery was forced to evacuate staff members after a chemical spill across a storeroom floor.

Longmorn Distillery was evacuated following a chemical spillage

Fire fighters were called to the Scotch whisky distillery located just outside Elgin, Moray, and remained on site for “hours” in an effort to decontaminate the affected site, reported the Press and Journal.

Fire crew chiefs said the nitrous acid lead was detected electronically by the plant’s computerised alert system and production came to an immediate halt.

Approximately 12 members of staff were evacuated from the site following the incident.

Elgin fire station manager, Gordon Morrison, said a scientific expert from Glasgow was leading crew through the decontamination process.

“This happened in a store room filled with tanks of different chemicals, and there’s been spillage from a vat of nitrous oxide,” he added.

“Thankfully it was contained to the one room, and information was relayed to us through the scientific officer in Glasgow on how to go about removing any danger.

“We used four gas-tight suits and sets of breathing apparatus to prevent us from being harmed by the acid.”

A spokesperson for Chivas Brothers told the news site: “We can confirm that a minor spill occurred at our Longmorn site, whereby a chemical fluid was released on to the plant floor.

“The spill was wholly contained within the building and a full clean-up was carried out.”

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