Thousands Of Gallons Of Chemicals Spill At St. Helena Plant

ST. HELENA (KCBS) – Thousands of gallons of a chemical used as a disinfectant spilled onto the ground at a water treatment plant in St. Helena Saturday afternoon.

CalFire Captain Tom Knecht said that the leak was reported at about 4:20 p.m. at the plant on Sage Canyon Road.

"Approximately 11,000 gallons of sodium hypochlorite escaped its tank into its secondary containment field," said Knecht. "The chemical started leaking through the secondary containment field at a rate of around five gallons a minute. Our fire department hazmat team responded and they diked off the leak from the secondary containment, that was spilling onto the ground."

Knecht said there were no injuries and no danger to the public from the spill and crews were able to pump the chemical into portable storage tanks.

The chemical is essentially a strong bleach. Officials said it did not enter either Lake Hennessey or Conn Creek, which are both nearby.

The water treatment plant is owned by the city of Napa.

Officials are still investigating what caused the leak.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)