Ammonia leak at fruit plant forces Prosser elementary students to move to another school

An ammonia leak in a fruit-packing plant in Prosser forced elementary school students to move to the middle school for the day on Monday.

The leak at Milne Fruit Products was detected at 6:45 a.m. Sunday and employees immediately contained the gas by sealing off the room, said plant officials.

Federal, state and local agencies were notified of the problem and the leak was located in one of the plant’s tank rooms.

Company officials said there was no immediate release into the air until Milne and fire officials were able to properly ventilate the storage facility later in the day, said the news release.

The problem was resolved by 8 p.m. Sunday, but school officials already had decided to have students from Keene-Riverview report to Housel Middle School on Monday morning “out of an abundance of caution.”

“It’s unfortunate that this impacted students and teachers but it was in the best interest of everyone concerned,” said Michael Sorenson, president and general manager.