Official explains chlorine leak which prompted emergency in The Villages

An official has offered an explanation about a chlorine leak which prompted an emergency Thursday night in The Villages.

At about 8:30 p.m., reverse 911 calls went out to residents living within a 1.5 mile radius of Turtle Mound Path in the Village of Duval, located north of County Road 466A at the Turtle Mound Executive Golf Course. The Villages Public Safety Department and Sumter Fire & EMS were dispatched to the scene. Jacobs, the Operations and Maintenance provider for The Villages District Utilities, was also called out.

The emergency was prompted by a chlorine gas cylinder leak which occurred at the North Sumter Utility Water Treatment Plant #2, by Turtle Mound, according to Bruce Brown, assistant district manager for The Villages District Government.

The leak was contained and isolated to a liquid chlorine cylinder. 

Earlier in the day, there had been another chlorine gas cylinder leak. The first one was at Sumter Water Conservation Authority (SWCA) Station #1, which is under the Central Sumter Utility. The station is directly across from Trailwinds Plaza between Evans Prairie Osprey Championship Golf Course and the Palmetto Executive Golf Course.  Both golf courses were temporarily shut down as standard protocol for public safety.

“Liquid chlorine is routinely utilized in the water treatment process at water treatment facilities; it is highly unusual to encounter a leaking cylinder, let alone two leaking cylinders. The Villages District Utilities Department and Jacobs have initiated a full investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding these incidents with the contracted supplier of the gas cylinders, supported by The Villages Public Safety Department,” Brown said.

There were no injuries resulting from the chlorine gas cylinder leaks.