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Hazardous materials incident reported at Ajinomoto plant in Eddyville

The Wapello County Sheriff's Office lifted the shelter-in-place order at 1 a.m. Thursday. All roads into Eddyville remain open.

EDDYVILLE, Iowa — The scene has been cleared after an acid leak at the Ajinomoto plant outside of Eddyville Wednesday night, according to the Wapello County Sheriff's Office.

A shelter-in-place order for Eddyville residents was lifted at 1 a.m. Thursday following a threat assessment. Mahaska County Emergency Management told Local 5 later Thursday that hydrochloric acid leaked from a faulty valve at the Ajinomoto plant. 

Emergency crews were at the scene for more than six hours as the acid ran into backup storage around the tank. Officials told Local 5 there is no danger to the public or environment. 

Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont Community School District delayed school by two hours for Thursday due to the incident.

"We're working with the National Weather Service as well as emergency management from Monroe, Wapello and Mahaska [counties] to watch this and make sure it doesn't move in a direction that could affect anybody," Sheriff Don Phillips said Wednesday night.

Travel on Highway 63N/163, Highway 137 and Monroe Wapello Road was impacted by the incident, but all roads have now reopened.

Local 5 will update this story as more information becomes available. Download the We Are Iowa app or subscribe to Local 5's "5 Things to Know" email newsletter for the latest.

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