Ammonia leak disrupts production at Butterball plant

Production was halted at a Butterball turkey plant around 12:30 a.m. on November 6 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, as a result of an ammonia leak.

Photo courtesy of Butterball
Photo courtesy of Butterball

Production was halted at a Butterball turkey plant around 12:30 a.m. on November 6 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, as a result of an ammonia leak.

Nobody was injured in the incident, reported KAIT.

The Jonesboro area had been experiencing some stormy weather, which caused a power outage at the turkey plant. A fire battalion chief who responded to the leak said the power outage could have been what prompted the ammonia leak.

Operations at the Butterball plant were suspended, and company officials were assessing when operations could resume.

Emergency crews left the scene around 6 a.m.

Butterball is the largest turkey company in the United States. According to the WATTAgNet Top Poultry Companies Database, the company slaughtered 1.38 billion pounds of live turkeys in 2016. Butterball has four slaughter plants, seven processing plants and three hatcheries.

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