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K-State Today

June 4, 2012

Workers, fire department clean up chemical spill in Mosier Hall

Submitted by Communications and Marketing

Kansas State University workers and the Manhattan Fire Department were called to Mosier Hall on Friday afternoon to clean up a nitric acid spill that caused minor injuries to one faculty member.

According to Steve Galitzer, the university's director of environmental health and safety, around 2:16 p.m. a College of Veterinary Medicine faculty member carrying a 9-pound bottle of nitric acid in a second-floor laboratory in Mosier Hall hit the doorway of the lab, causing about two and half liters of the chemical to spill. The faculty member received minor burns and was treated by EMS. As a precautionary measure and part of university standard procedure, several other people -- all staff members -- and the faculty member were sent to Mercy Regional Health Center for an additional checkup. The Manhattan Fire Department and its hazmat unit responded to the scene to assist with the cleanup.

Galitzer said the hallway was closed for the cleanup process.