MOUNT PLEASANT, Texas (August 24, 2012)--An ammonia leak at a Pilgrim’s Pride packing plant in northeast Texas sickened at least 17 people Friday.
A spokeswoman at Titus Regional Medical Center in Mount Pleasant said 17 patients were taken to the hospital for examination.
Spokeswoman Shannon Norfleet says the exams were precautionary and said no serious injuries or illnesses were found.
She said the hospital was initially been told to expect as many as 40 people potentially exposed to the leak.
The leak was reported about 2:30 p.m. Friday at the Pilgrim's Pride poultry plant in Mount Pleasant, about 110 miles northeast of Dallas.
Company spokeswoman Margaret McDonald says contract workers were performing maintenance on the plant roof when the leak began and the plant was evacuated.
McDonald says all workers taken to the hospital were examined, treated and released, and the leak was repaired by 3 p.m.
