Cover brief for The Oklahoman's Business section on Jan. 31, 2020

WOODWARD

Chemical plant evacuated in gas leak

No injuries were reported as part of a hydrogen chloride leak at a chemicals plant that forced an emergency evacuation Thursday afternoon.

Erin Hatfield, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, said the agency was informed by the City of Woodward/Woodward County Office of Emergency Management that no one had been hurt.

Hatfield said local emergency management officials told the agency the leak was caused by a valve malfunction at Deepwater Chemicals.

Hatfield said DEQ was informed that the valve released the colorless gas into the plant's stack, prompting an evacuation order issued about 2:35 p.m.

The gas, when exposed to atmospheric water vapor, forms hydrochloric acid. The evacuation zone covered about a square mile between the airport and County Road 0380.

Emergency management officials issued an all-clear for people to return to their homes and businesses about a half-hour later, once the leak had been contained and the plume had dissipated.

Deepwater Chemicals, according to its website, makes iodine and iodine derivatives that are used in a wide range of medical, agricultural and industrial applications.

Deepwater Chemicals is a registered manufacturing facility with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, its website states.

Crop grants available

Funding opportunities aiming to enhance the specialty crop industry within the state are now available, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry has announced.

The dollars, coming through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program administered by Agriculture Marketing Services division of the US Department of Agriculture, are available to nonprofits, local, state and federal government entities, for-profit organizations and colleges and universities.

To be eligible, projects must enhance the competitiveness of an Oklahoma specialty crop, and they must benefit a specialty crop segment as a whole. Grant proposals are due at Oklahoma’s agriculture department at 5 p.m. on March 25, officials said.

Staff reports