EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — An all-clear has been given to the residents of East St. Louis Saturday evening after they were made aware of a chemical leak earlier in the day.
Residents were welcome to return to their normal activities, the City of East St. Louis said.
The city advised its residents via Facebook Saturday morning to avoid certain areas due to a chemical leak.
The announcement was made at about 9 a.m. The city told residents from the 25th to 29th block of State Street to Bond Avenue to avoid the area and stay inside because of a reported chemical leak.
In an emergency alert sent out to citizens via East St. Louis' emergency alert system Code Red, residents were advised to stay inside their homes and avoid the area until 3 p.m. Saturday.
East St. Louis emergency personnel and the St. Clair County hazmat teams responded to the leak, according to the Facebook post.
East St. Louis Fire Chief Jason Blackmon told 5 On Your Side shortly before 1:30 p.m. Saturday the leak was being contained by the hazmat team.
Blackmon and ESDA Deputy Director Lee Coleman later gave the all-clear.
"I thank you for your compliance and patience as we worked to isolate the impact of today's emergency event. Truly, our top concern was for the safety of those in the community," Robert Eastern III, Mayor of East St. Louis, said.
Blackmon said the leak was coming from the Allnex USA plant located at 2904 Missouri Avenue.
The city also advised in the post for anyone feeling ill in the area to go to the nearest emergency room.
The type of chemical and the severity of the leak were not released.
On July 10, two workers in the Allnex plant were injured when a fire broke out within the plant. Originally believed to be as a result of a chemical explosion, Allnex issued a statement about the fire on July 11 stating the cause was unknown.
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