Ammonia leak stirs Dutch Harbor

The 129-member crew of the processing ship Excellence was forced to evacuate after the vessel experienced an ammonia leak Friday while tied up at the Kloosterboer cold storage dock in Dutch Harbor.

Firefighters sprayed water in an effort to suppress vapors. As a community precaution, the Excellence later was towed (top photo) to an offshore mooring buoy in Wide Bay.

Three people needed medical attention for ammonia exposure, with two of those transferred to Anchorage.

A hazmat team from the UniSea processing plant went aboard the vessel today and determined ammonia was still leaking.

Ammonia is a gas used in freezer systems.

The 367-foot Excellence is a mothership that processes Bering Sea pollock deliveries from catcher boats.

Photos are courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Sitka processing plant forced to evacuate

Here's a situation report on an ammonia release at the Silver Bay Seafoods plant in Sitka.

When the siren sounds...

Donald Graves, UniSea manager at Dutch Harbor, directs the evacuation of processing plant workers after a tsunami warning around 7:30 p.m. Thursday. The warning came in response to a magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurring 20 miles southeast of Amukta Pass. Unalaska police and fire units reported "most if not all citizens" reached high ground by about 8:15 p.m. But no tsunami came and the warning soon was canceled. Jim Paulin photo