T-L Photo/SHELLEY HANSON/ MEMBERS OF the Belmont County Hazmat Response Team get their suits decontaminated after checking on the chlorine level at the St. Clairsville wastewater treatment plant where a leak occurred this morning.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — To help lighten the mood and not dwell on the dangerous task ahead, members of the Belmont County Hazmat Response Team cracked jokes and poked fun at each other as they waited to enter the St. Clairsville wastewater treatment plant Monday morning.

But when it was go time, the mood changed, reflecting the serious nature of the mission at hand — trying to determine if a chlorine leak still was occurring inside the facility.

Monday’s event was the second chemical leak to occur at the plant in less than two weeks. This time the leaking substance was chlorine, one of two chemicals used in the end process of treating the water before it is released into a stream.

No one was injured during the leak, discovered at about 7 a.m. by employees who had just arrived at the plant for a day of work. They noticed an audible alarm going off at the building on Legion Road and called first responders for help.

Nearly two weeks ago on Aug. 4, a sulfur dioxide leak occurred at the plant, according to Ken Brooks, assistant chief of the Neffs Fire Department and commander of the county hazmat team. No one was injured in that incident, either.

Sulfur dioxide is used to remove the chlorine from the water before it is released into a stream.

Brooks said the firefighters on scene Monday were taking turns, two-at-a-time, going to the plant while dressed in hazmat suits to check and see if the chlorine had cleared from the building. At about 11:30 a.m., the firefighters’ test strips had shown a negative reading for the chlorine.

However, since the building’s alarm had not reset itself like it was supposed to, they planned to do another round of testing with fresh firefighters. This time, the test strips were to be situated closer to the ground because the chlorine could have settled at ground level.

As a precaution, residents in the area of the plant were told via telephone message to shelter in place. Cumberland Trail Fire District Chief John Slavik said those who did not get the message can register their home phone, cell phone or other device at www.belmontcounty911.com by clicking on the “Code Red” tab.

After the test strips showed negative results, Brooks said if the building’s audible alarm did not reset a professional hazmat cleaning company would be called in to the clean the building of the chlorine left inside.

Brooks later said that at about 3:30 p.m. the Code Red had been cleared, and the professional hazmat cleaning company had found that the chlorine was leaking from the bottom of a tank. The company removed that storage cylinder.

Scott Brown, director of the wastewater treatment plant, said the equipment where the leak took place is original to building, which was constructed in 1983.

“We had $2 million in upgrades done last year. We replaced the primary treatment components. The last portion was not upgraded,” Brown said of the chlorine treatment process.

Brown noted that until the problem can be fixed by an engineering firm and contractor, the wastewater treatment process will continue — minus the last portion involving treatment with chlorine and sulfur dioxide.

He said the last step is simply a precaution to kill any potential leftover bacteria and is only required by environmental regulations six months out of the year.

Brown noted there are newer methods of treatment, such as ultraviolet light, but he said St. Clairsville’s plant was set up to use chlorine.