Hanford 222-S Lab reportedly evacuated

The 222-S Laboratory at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state was evacuated Tuesday afternoon due to concerns over chemical exposure, the Tri-City Herald reported.

The evacuation occurred around 2:20 p.m. Pacific Time after an employee at the 222-S Laboratory, managed by Navarro-led Hanford Laboratory Management and Integration, handled a vial of the chemical crotonaldehyde. The worker sought to stabilize it for shipment to an offsite treatment, according to the newspaper.

“Crotonaldehyde is a clear, colorless to straw colored liquid with a strong, suffocating odor … [and] It is highly flammable and produces toxic vapors at room temperature,” according to the National Library of Medicine.

The Tri-City Herald said the Richland Police Department removed the chemical from the laboratory. Exchange Monitor could not immediately reach DOE Wednesday morning.