1 dead, 4 injured after possible chemical leak at sugar plant in northeastern Colorado

One person died and four people were taken to a hospital after a possible chemical leak at Western Sugar Cooperative in Fort Morgan. The Morgan County Sheriff's Office, ambulance and volunteer firefighters were dispatched to the sugar plant located at 18317 Highway 144 on reports of a man who was unconscious on Wednesday afternoon. 

When first responders arrived just after 3:30 p.m., they were advised that it was a possible ammonia leak but rescue crews determined that it was hydrogen sulfide. They also asked for assistance from the Brush Volunteer Fire Department for additional manpower on a confined space rescue and decontamination. 

Two male employees of Western Sugar were rescued from a confined space about 10 feet below ground. Firefighters were wearing Hazmat personal protective equipment when they entered but exposed during the technical rescue while trying to remove one of the patients. 

According to Morgan County Sheriff Dave Martin, the patient was "combative in a confined space" and dislodged PPE. Two Fort Morgan firefighters were exposed during the rescue. The rescue operation took about 70 minutes in a building detached from the main plant. 

Three employees and two firefighters were rushed to and treated at Saint Elizabeth Hospital in Fort Morgan. 

Both firefighters and one employee were treated and released from the hospital. One employee died while another remained hospitalized on Thursday morning. The death is being investigated by the Morgan County Sheriff's Office and the Morgan County coroner. 

According to the Teamsters Local 455 Facebook page, "Genrri Ramires-Garcia, 22, and Luke Zion, 23, were attempting a repair in the Western Sugar wastewater plant when the men were reportedly overcome by hydrogen sulfide gas. Tristan Teter, 33, raced into the underground space to assist Zion and later died. Genrii Ramirez-Garcia was treated at the scene and released. Zion remains hospitalized."

"They were assigned to fix a problem in the pump house 20 to 30 feet underground," said Kevin Potter, Teamsters Local 455 Business Agent in a statement published on the Facebook page. Union steward Tyler Powell, 44, said the men were working on pumps in the two-and-a-half-year-old wastewater plant when they opened the seal and sludge started to ooze out.  Said Potter: "That gas escaped and filled their lungs." 

Teter was reportedly pulled from the underground space by Greg Mares, a former Western Sugar steward who now serves as a Brush firefighter, according to the Facebook page.  

According to the Morgan County Sheriff's Office, the chemical is a "naturally occurring by-product of the production's wastewater." During the rescue operation, the plant was not shutdown or evacuated and operations seemingly were not affected. 

Western Sugar allowed workers to leave the facility following the tragedy, said Dean Modecker, Teamsters Local 455 Secretary-Treasurer in a statement, "We've got three agents on the ground assisting in getting workers out of the factory and helping them process their emotions. OSHA has been notified."     

Western Sugar processes sugar beets Fort Morgan, Colorado and Scottsbluff, Nebraska locations. The Teamsters Union has represented Western Sugar employees for decades.