Splash of chemicals for metal plating critically hurts Pa. worker, sends 16 others to hospital

Chemical splash critically injures Pa. worker

NORTH EAST, Pa. — Authorities say a worker in northwestern Pennsylvania who was pouring chemicals into a drum inadvertently caused a reaction that splashed on him and sent 17 people to the hospital.

The worker was in critical condition Thursday afternoon.

The spill happened about 6:30 a.m. at Electrical Materials Co. in North East, about 10 miles northeast of Erie.

Doug Ebert, a biologist with the Erie County Department of Health, says the employee was pouring chemicals for metal plating into a drum he thought was empty. But the chemicals reacted with something in the drum and splashed on him.

Others were exposed to vapors that Ebert says dissipated quickly. They were taken to hospitals mostly as a precaution.

A guard who answered the phone says the plant is closed until Friday and no one was available to comment.