Overview

• A breach in a 5,000-gallon storage tank released about 3,000 gallons of nitric acid at the Austin Powder Red Diamond plant in McArthur around 8:30 a.m. on June 11.
• Authorities ordered an immediate evacuation of the nearby village of Zaleski and set up a shelter at Vinton County High School for displaced residents.
• The Federal Aviation Administration imposed a 30-nautical-mile no-fly zone around the facility, grounding all non-emergency flights in the affected airspace.
• Nitric acid reacted to form a visible orange plume of nitric oxide gas that can irritate the eyes, skin and respiratory passages and cause drowsiness.
• Production at the plant remains suspended for the day, with investigators probing the cause of the leak