Boeing Plant Evacuated -- Auburn Workers Injured By Chemical Cloud

AUBURN - Hundreds of employees were evacuated from about 12 buildings at the Auburn Boeing complex this morning when cleaning solutions apparently reacted, sickening a number of employees.

At least nine workers were sent to Harborview Medical Center, and 19 others were sent to other hospitals. Only one was thought to have suffered serious injury, Boeing officials said.

About noon, Boeing canceled work for the day and sent all 2,300 employees home. Ordinarily, more than 7,000 employees are at the plant, but the number was reduced because of the strike by Boeing Machinists, company officials said.

Area roads were sealed off, including 15th Street Southwest in Auburn, which borders the plant complex. Several schools, as well as some nearby homes, were evacuated as a precaution, authorities said.

Boeing officials said that about 9:30 a.m., 300 gallons of nitric-hydrofluoric acid, which is used for etching and cleaning metal parts, underwent a reaction and created an orange cloud that could be seen outside the building.

The acid, which can interfere with breathing and can irritate eyes, nose and throat, was being transferred from a large permanent tank inside one building to a portable tank outside when a cloud arose above the tank, said Tom Koehler, a Boeing fabrications-division spokesman. The liquid was on its way to a wastewater-treatment facility.

Koehler said he believed the chemicals were being used as a cleaning agent in an area where spare parts for airplanes are made.

Some striking Machinists who were within 200 yards fled when they saw fumes spewing from one of the buildings, said picket captain Jerry Smith, a maintenance and facility services worker.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.