Residents of County Durham were caught unawares this afternoon when a cloud of orange gas containing nitrous oxide spread across the sky following an industrial accident at a fertiliser manufacturing plant.
Orange Gas Cloud Over County Durham: What Happened at CF Fertilisers?
A great orange smoke plume appeared over Billingham, England, on Friday 24 May, after reports of a chemical explosion near the town. Witnesses described the scene as chaotic, with alarms sounding and thick smoke in the air.
Following initial concerns about health risks, the police confirmed that no one had been injured, and the company assured the community that there was no danger.
Safety protocols were applied immediately, according to CF Fertilisers, and the nitric acid plant shut down automatically, stopping the release of gas within five minutes.
Firefighters at the scene confirmed that the gas had dispersed quickly and posed no threat to the public.
A local resident filmed the dramatic event and shared it on social media with a warning: "A nasty looking plume has just emerged from the Billingham manufacturing plant, setting off all the alarms. Close your windows and doors, Billingham!"
Nice plume of nasty looking stuff has just come out of Billingham Manufacturing Plant and now all the alarms are going off (and it isn’t 10am on a Tuesday). Close your windows and doors Billingham! @TeessideLive pic.twitter.com/6L4TO2NdWt
— gibgod (@gibgod) May 24, 2024
The comment referred to the factory's routine alarm tests carried out every Tuesday at 10am, a familiar sound to local residents.
Some witnesses described the noise as a "huge chemical explosion" and said it "sounded like an aeroplane overhead". Fumes were seen as far away as Teesside airport, around ten kilometres from the site.
A spokesman for Cleveland Police said: "Emergency services attended a fertiliser company in Haverton Hill this lunchtime following reports of an industrial incident involving a minor release of gas."
"The gas is now dissipating, and the situation is under control. There are no injuries and there are no off-site consequences or ongoing risk to the public."
The Ostwald reaction to make nitric acid from ammonia is a bit more visible in Billingham today than it usually is… #NO2 pic.twitter.com/M6Ybceh48V
— Richard Ward (@Shakyshakes1980) May 24, 2024
Fire Brigade and Company Declarations
Cleveland Fire Brigade confirmed its response: "We were called at 12:28pm to a site in Haverton Hill following reports of an industrial incident involving a minor gas leak. Two fire engines from Stockton Fire Station were dispatched to the scene".
A CF Fertilisers representative added: "At approximately 12.20pm local time, an incident occurred at one of the nitric acid plants at the Billingham complex, resulting in the release of nitrous oxide.
"The safety system worked as designed and the plant was safely shut down, stopping the release within five minutes. There is no risk to the public and a full investigation will be carried out."
In 2018, a similar incident occurred on the same site, when a flare was set off at the former Imperial Chemical Industries facility.
At the time, the Environment Agency described the incident as an "unexpected equipment failure" that the company could not have foreseen or prevented.