PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Coast Guard, federal, state and local first responders are responding Wednesday to a sodium hydroxide chemical leak in Norfolk along the Elizabeth River.
It was initially reported the tank was overloaded. Information received since indicates the tank was leaking and not overloaded.
Norfolk Fire-Rescue contacted Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads command center personnel at approximately 7:30 a.m., reporting a chemical tank was leaking at a Kinder-Morgan terminal on the eastern branch of the Elizabeth River.
Coast Guard pollution responders were dispatched to the scene alongside personnel from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Norfolk Fire-Rescue, Norfolk Police Department, City of Chesapeake, City of Portsmouth, City of Virginia Beach, Virginia Port Authority and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to assess the situation.
While the leak is currently contained, a hazard still remains until the product is removed from the tank. Federal, state and local responders are implementing a plan to transfer the product from the tank.
The Coast Guard and Norfolk Fire-Rescue have implemented a security zone in the Elizabeth River from the Berkley Bridge to the Campostella Bridge.
There is no report of the sodium hydroxide in the Elizabeth River.