Three workers at the Eagle Rail Car Refurbishing and Repair facility on Allendale Road were taken to the hospital late this morning to be checked out after possibly being in a closed environment with too high a concentration of nitrogen gas.They are not believe to be in any danger.
Fire, police and ambulances responded to the plant around 11:30 this morning and a fire official said they found three workers outside a rail tank car the employees had been working on.
Responders weren’t sure if they had been inside or outside the tank while welding. But they said all three were conscious and alert when First Responders arrived.
Eagle Rail Car repairs, maintains and refurbishes various types of railroad cars. Nitrogen is used in many industries to purge and displace gases and fluids, especially in the oil and gas industry.
We breath it with every breath of air we take. But if concentrations become too high in enclosed areas, people can lose consciousness or die by asphyxiation when it reduces the amount of available oxygen in the area.
