But Fire Chief Steve Payton said Monday: “We’re not sure what we were dealing with. At first, it was thought to be some sort of chemical that they came into contact with.”
Workers at the LG/Honda electric vehicle battery plant received a “medical evaluation,” a spokeswoman for the battery producer told the Dayton Daily News Friday afternoon.
“A small group of construction contractors working inside our facility sought local medical evaluation,” L-H Battery spokeswoman Caroline Ramsey said in response to questions about the situation. “We are currently investigating the specific area where they had been working and have temporarily suspended construction activity in this area out of an abundance of caution.”
There was no spill or release of hazardous materials, Ramsey said Friday. She reiterated that Monday.
“Same status as Friday, there was no release or incident,” Ramsay said Monday. “We’re continuing to monitor and test the area.”
“We did not have an exposure here. We did not have an incident of any kind. We’re trying to study to see what this might be, but there were no exposures. That’s all I can tell you,” she added.
Said Payton: “We were told they (L-H Battery workers) came into contact with some kind of chemical. That the workers had come into the front door (of the Jamestown emergency department). They had arrived in a van.”
The L-H Battery workers experienced “skin irritations, some stains on their clothing — but we’re not sure whether that was from the chemical or not — but we were just taking precautionary (actions) with the chemical that they said could have possibly ... have come into contact with."
Payton said he contacted Dayton Regional Hazmat.
“Under their guidance, we decided to shut down the ER until the decon (decontamination) had taken place in the waiting room, restrooms and any other place that could have been contaminated,” he said.
The chief added, “All the workers advised they had come from the L-H Battery Co. And they had said there had been some type of chemical release the previous night. And they were told it had been cleaned up. But they still had symptoms from some type of chemical reactions on their skin.”
Those symptoms included a nose-bleed from the previous evening, and one worker who said he was experiencing chest pains, the chief said.
Payton said the workers were treated and released.
Premier Health spokeswoman Terrea Little said the Jamestown emergency department remains open Monday.
Greene County Emergency Management Agency Director Ethan Raby said that “out of an abundance of caution,” the Silvercreek Twp. fire chief ordered the emergency department to close temporarily for decontamination.
The battery plant outside Jeffersonville was built as a joint venture of Honda and LG Energy Solution. Late last year, LG said it will sell its stake in the plant.
At the time construction of the plant was first announced in 2022, the site was expected to employ about 2,200 people. It is an approximately 50-minute drive southeast of Dayton and about 40 minutes south of Springfield.
