In July 2007, a fan in the rear freezer room of a meat works factory in Victoria dislodged and fell. The fan dislodged a pipeline supplying liquid ammonia to an evaporator unit in the property’s refrigeration plant, causing 2000 litres (~530 gallons) of liquid ammonia to spill onto the freezer floor. The ammonia quickly spread under stacked pallets of meat, placing what was believed to be approximately $10 million worth of meat in danger of contamination. On the morning of the incident staff arriving for the morning shift at around 5:00am noticed a strong smell of ammonia coming from the premises. They informed their maintenance contractors and began attempts to contain the spill – staff were evacuated to the car park at the front of the property.
Click Here to download this excellent article.