DONALDSONVILLE, La. (BRPROUD) – The all clear has been given after CF Industries experienced an ammonia leak on Thursday morning.
Various intersections were closed and one school transferred their occupants to another school.
The school affected by this leak was Donaldsonville Primary and Ascension Parish Schools provided these details about the situation at the time:
Due to an ammonia leak at CF Industries that is in the process of being addressed, all Donaldsonville Primary students and staff are being sent to the Lowery Elementary/Middle campus. They will stay at Lowery until the all-clear is given.
This is being done out of an abundance of caution. We will keep you informed as we learn more.
The Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office said that these intersections were reopened after the “hazmat incident:”
- Hwy 18 and Jones Rd.
- Hwy 18 and Gautreau Rd
- Thibaut and Hwy 3089
- Hwy 70 and Hwy 3137
- Lemonville Cut Off road near Hwy 18
- Hwy 70 at the Railroad
Ascension Parish Schools gave this update regarding the plans for Donaldsonville Primary on Thursday:
Donaldsonville Primary will have an early release at 1 p.m. today due to the ongoing mitigation efforts at CF Industries. Arrangements are being made to feed students lunch at Lowery before they will load buses for their return home. Any student who does not have a parent or guardian at home will remain at Lowery until he or she can be safely picked up.
The Lowery Middle car rider line at the front of the campus will be utilized for parents who are picking up their students at the 1 p.m. dismissal time. Parents and guardians may come early to Lowery’s campus to check their children out as long it is before 12:30 p.m.
We appreciate our teachers and staff for minimizing the disruption to our students, as well as the Lowery Elementary and Middle staff for hosting us while this emergency situation is addressed.
CF Industries released this statement about the ammonia leak:
CF Industries Holdings, Inc. confirmed today that its Donaldsonville Complex in Donaldsonville, Louisiana experienced an ammonia release in an ammonia storage loading area onsite at approximately 6:30 a.m. CT on Thursday, December 1, 2022. The company quickly activated its emergency response plan and notified the appropriate officials and agencies. Local officials have issued a precautionary shelter-in-place order for those who were at Donaldsonville Primary School. No other community locations are being asked to shelter-in-place. Containment work is ongoing at the site with monitoring in place. No injuries have been reported related to the incident. The company will provide additional updates on the incident as warranted.
The Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the leak was contained this morning.
CF Industries is located at 39018 LA-3089.