Escambia County: Two Transported To The Hospital After Inhalation Incident At Ascend Performance Materials

October 5, 2021

Two people were transported to the hospital after an inhalation incident at Ascend Performance Materials in Cantonment Tuesday afternoon, according to Escambia County, but Ascend says there was no chemical leak.

No information was available on the condition of the individuals.

Davis Wood, spokesperson for Escambia Fire Rescue, said the two patients were exposed to cyclohexane. Cyclohexane can be harmful if swallowed or inhaled. It can cause eye iand skin irritation, respiratory symptoms, drowsiness, or coma in high enough concentrations, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

Wood said there was no danger posed by the incident to anyone outside the plant. He said Escambia Fire Rescue was initially dispatched to the call on Chemstrand Road, but canceled because it could be handled by Ascend’s internal fire department. Escambia County EMS did transported the two individuals.

A statement from Ascend differs than the official statement from Escambia County. Ascend told NorthEscambia.com:


“This morning, an employee suffered what is likely a personal medical emergency. The employee was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

“Two on-site medical staff, contracted by West Florida Hospital, responded to the event and reported the event per their protocols. West Florida Hospital requires in-person evaluation of their on-site medical staff; therefore, they were both transported via ambulance.

“At no time did any process disruption occur, nor did any material escape. At no point in time was there any threat to the community.”

Comments

14 Responses to “Escambia County: Two Transported To The Hospital After Inhalation Incident At Ascend Performance Materials”

  1. William 2 on October 7th, 2021 4:20 pm

    @Bigboy &Shirl that plant has been there for nearly twice as long as the two of you have worked there, the infrastructure is old and unsafe, not to mention that it’s one of the biggest polluters in the state, along with International paper. Those two plants emit more toxins than any others in the state, the crist plant was another one but they have since moved to natural gas and Away from coal. Ascend is an accident waiting to happen and should be shutdown immediately, the amount of pollution alone is reason enough to shutter this eminent disaster.

  2. Lying jokers on October 7th, 2021 7:41 am

    Don have you ever worked there at Chemstrand/Monsanto/ Solutia or Ascend? Look up the Flixborough disaster. Also, keep in mind that that plant had approx. 1/3 of the amount of Cyclohexane that Ascend has at 481…not to mention the 2 GIANT spheres of butane that are located next to 481. Thirdly, I’m qualified to work with sharp objects and I don’t know much about Chicken Little but I can ASSURE you I know about Ascend. Thanks for your concern.

  3. Just Sayin on October 7th, 2021 3:52 am

    @oldcell

    Yes it is. I pray the 2 individuals make full recoveries.

  4. Just Sayin on October 7th, 2021 3:51 am

    I worked for years at Ascend and I can tell you 1 they take lots of precautions and are very big on safety. The person who was life flighted and the person killed 2 years ago had nothing had NOTHING to do with Ascends practices, chemicals or safety. I was there for both! They have safety meeting at least once a week. They have their own hazmat team, firefighters and EMTS. They investigate every thing that happens to try to avoid it from happening again. They also monitor alarms and the plant Firefighters and EMT even assist CEREX and Exxon Mobile. Unless you work there you have no idea what they do to try to protect their people and the community around them. Accidents can happen anywhere but I’d feel safer living by the Ascend plant then I would any other Chemical Plant.

  5. Shirl on October 6th, 2021 4:47 pm

    I agree with “big boy” I also worked there for 37 years, don’t know anything about the present management, but when I worked there, it was a wonderful and safe place to work. I hired in when it was Chemstrand. No better place to work in the county at that time…

  6. SueB on October 6th, 2021 11:27 am

    Two people were transferred to hosp via ambulance because they smelled fumes? Were these 2 people the medical staff people who are contracted out by West Fla?
    One guy had a “personal medical emergency”. He could have had angina or a heartattack.

  7. Don on October 6th, 2021 9:19 am

    @ Lying jokers

    7 to 10 miles radius…
    Using physics and quantum mechanics ….how did you arrive at that analysis.

    Stay away from sharp objects friend
    Chicken little will be by at 11:00 to give you a ride to the Bindu Market

  8. big boy on October 6th, 2021 9:14 am

    As a formor employee. I would like to say that this is a Chemical Plant. They don’t make pencils or paper. For what goes on at this plant it has one of the best safety records for this kind of bussiness. I worked for this plant for 37 years. I know where this accident happened because I worked in this building for years. I would like to say if you don’t know anything about this do not make comments on things you don’t know anything about. This company has and still does provide a living for a lot of people.

  9. Lying jokers on October 6th, 2021 7:13 am

    Cyclohexane is a extremely flammable substance. In fact, if the contents of that unit went up it would make a hole approx. 7 to 10 miles in radius and it would take the river 3 days to fill in the hole. This place is extremely dangerous. However, there are good qualified people who have ran this plant for years but the new management team is going to cause someone or multiple people to get KILLED!! CAN YOU GUYS NOT SEE THE UPTICK IN INJURIES AT THIS PLANT!? It was just a little a year ago a gentleman was life flighted off of this site. Then about 2-3 years before that a gentleman died at the plant. Enough is enough! Take the current management team and put their butts on the road before it’s too late!

  10. Safety Standdown needed desperately on October 5th, 2021 6:05 pm

    Good golly Miss Molly, This plant appears to have way to many injuries and deaths compared to other manufacturing plants in the area. Time for a serious OSHA inspection.

  11. OldCelt on October 5th, 2021 5:04 pm

    Is this the old Chemstrand/Monsanto plant?

  12. Wizard on October 5th, 2021 3:34 pm

    Hopefully the involved parties are both recovering.
    Does anyone even monitor what is coming out of this plant?
    Looks like some futuristic chemical city.

  13. Jr on October 5th, 2021 3:25 pm

    Prayers for the individuals that were transported. I have a family member and many friends that work there.

  14. J.Larry Seale on October 5th, 2021 3:11 pm

    they are luck the hold plant didn’t blow
    up…Cyclohexane is three time as flamable
    than gas………
    Hope the kids recover…

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News