B U F F A L O N E W S
An employee at American Pharmaceutical Partners on Grand Island was taken to Erie County Medical Center for treatment after he was exposed to a toxic chemical at work Tuesday, a Grand Island Fire Department spokesman reported. The plant at 3159 Staley Road was evacuated.
Jasen Conte, 26, of Niagara Falls, was given oxygen at the scene by firefighters after the valve on a cylinder of hydrogen sulfide malfunctioned in a lab at about 3:45 p.m., releasing some of the corrosive gas. Conte also suffered an injury to his hand. He was released after treatment at ECMC.
Hazmat teams from Grand Island and the Brighton Volunteer Fire Company from the Town of Tonawanda capped the defective cylinder and placed it in a pressurized container, the spokesman said. The building was ventilated.