Chemical Spill Prompted Evacuation in Menlo Park

A chemical spill at a food engineering company in Menlo Park caused a brief evacuation on Wednesday night, a fire chief said.

At about 8 p.m., firefighters responded to a reported spill at Sand Hill Foods, located in an industrial neighborhood at 1140 O'Brien Drive, Menlo Park Fire Protection District Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman said.

Employees had been cleaning mechanical equipment used in pasteurizing experiments when about two and a half gallons of a sanitizing liquid spilled onto the floor of the facility, Schapelhouman said. About a dozen people in the building were evacuated as a precaution. No one was injured.

A San Mateo County hazardous materials team responded and determined that the material that spilled was not dangerous, and that employees could return to the building and clean up the mess, Schapelhouman said.

"No mitigation by the hazardous materials team needed to be done," Schapelhouman said. Employees were allowed to re-enter the facility about two hours after the spill was first reported.

--Bay City News

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