Hazmat team at Nassau pool, 3 in hospital

May 19, 2011
By JOHN VALENTI

Three men were hospitalized after a chemical exposure Thursday inside the aquatic center at a Town of North Hempstead park, officials said.

Initial reports were that the men, all town employees, had been exposed to a chlorine or potassium chloride spill.

But North Hempstead's commissioner of public safety, Andrew DeMartin, told Newsday it was not immediately clear what the irritant was. Officials said the three men were in good condition at Winthrop-University Hospital, but were being held until officials could determine the agent to which the men had been exposed.

DeMartin said a Nassau County Fire Marshal's Office Hazmat team is scouring the Aquatic Activities Center at Michael J. Tully Jr. Park, on Evergreen Avenue in New Hyde Park, to resolve the situation. Firefighters from Garden City Park, New Hyde Park, Mineola and Williston Park, and a Nassau County police Emergency Services Unit also were on scene, officials told Newsday.

DeMartin said the three men were treated at the scene by Garden City Park EMTs for "eye irritation and labored breathing" before being taken to Winthrop in Mineola.

DeMartin said the three men entered the aquatic center, which houses a refurbished pool, at about 7:20 a.m. Thursday and, upon entering a basement area, suffered eye irritation and breathing difficulties.

A 911 call was placed, DeMartin said, and the Garden City Park Fire Department responded a short time later.

Then the hazmat team and other fire departments were contacted, DeMartin said. He said it was not immediately clear if there had been a spill, or what caused the contaminant to become airborne.

He said the men did not see anything spilled.

"It's unclear what is leaking or what caused the situation," DeMartin said. He said the park usually opens at 8 a.m., but said he expects it to remain closed for several hours.

By By JOHN VALENTI
Posted Thursday, May 19, 2011

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