Glendale Hts. company: Don't fear ammonia tanks.(News)

Residents have virtually nothing to fear from two ammonia tanks planned for a metal-treatment plant in Glendale Heights, according to the company.

News of a chemical spill Monday at a steel plating company in Chicago may have sent a shudder through community members who fought against the addition of ammonia tanks at Hudapack Metal Treating in Glendale Heights.In the Chicago spill, nitric acid leaked at Krel Laboratories, a steel plating factory on Chicago's West Side. The leak temporarily suspended train service and caused the evacuation of nearby residents.

Fears of a similar accident requiring evacuation led residents to oppose the ammonia tanks before Hudapack reached an agreement with village leaders last year.
Hudapack Metal Treating, 550 Mitchell Road, uses ammonia, a hazardous chemical, in its treatment of stainless steel.

When Hudapack moved to the village from Addison last year, Marquardt School District 15 officials and managers of a nearby apartment complex objected to two 1,000-gallon ammonia tanks that the plant wanted to install outside.

"We were concerned about fumes emanating from their plant," said district Superintendent Lawrence Golden. The Marquardt Sixth Grade Center is two blocks from the plant.Hudapack agreed in March 1999 to pay for cleanup and relocation of residents in case of a spill. The compromise paved the way for village trustees to approve the tanks.

The tanks haven't been built yet because the company rarely works with stainless steel and the need hasn't risen yet.The tanks will pose no threat to the school or to residents of the nearby Stonegate Apartments, said Michael Norman, quality assurance manager. Ammonia is so cold that any leak in the tank would immediately be plugged by an "ammonia ice cube," Norman said, adding that nothing short of a plane falling on the tank would create a health hazard.

But Golden said he doesn't want to let down his guard.
"We always want to be watchful of the situation and what's taking place," he said.
Wong, Wailin