Residents Allowed Back In Homes After Southeastern Colorado Ammonia Spill

WALSH, Colo. (AP/CBS4) - Evacuations were lifted for more than 35 homes in a small southeastern Colorado town Wednesday afternoon after an ammonia spill.

A tank holding about 1,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia fell off a trailer as it was being hauled to a farm near Walsh Wednesday morning. The fall ruptured the tank, releasing an unknown amount of ammonia which turned into vapor.

An unknown amount of liquid ammonia remained in the tank and crews were figuring out the best way to plug the rupture and move the tank out of town.

"I saw a puff of white smoke … and I saw the tank kind of pop up in the air and then slam down and there was this huge billowing cloud kind of leaking out," resident Angie Hume said.

Anhydrous ammonia is used as a fertilizer. Riley Frazee, a spokesman with the Colorado Division of Emergency Management, says it's common to see tanks of it being hauled around the ranching and farming community.

No injuries have been reported.

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