JAMESTOWN — Nine workers from a local battery plant were hospitalized on Friday.
It forced the hospital to shut down for several hours.
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News Center 7’s Malik Patteson spoke to fire officials. He will have the latest information LIVE on News Center 7 at 6:00.
The exposure reportedly occurred around 1 a.m.
All patients are contractors with L-H Battery in Jeffersonville, according to a spokesperson with Fayette County EMA.
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The plant is a joint venture between LG Energy and Honda to produce lithium-ion batteries.
The workers drove themselves to Miami Valley Hospital Jamestown Emergency Center.
The workers had walked into the waiting room and used the bathrooms before being decontaminated.
Some had visible rashes and irritation from the exposure, while others had respiratory issues, according to Sugarcreek Township Fire Chief Steve Payton, who was called to assist.
The emergency room was shut down around 7:15 a.m. to limit the risks to other patients and to decontaminate the area, and reopened around 3 p.m.
In a statement, Premier Health said:
“The Jamestown Emergency Department was briefly and temporarily closed this morning for cleaning, secondary to exposure from an external event. The temporary closure was taken out of an abundance of caution and in alignment with established safety protocols. The Jamestown Emergency Department has since reopened and is operating normally.”
Fayette County EMA told News Center 7 that “there is no known connection to a chemical release,” and they are working with L-H Battery to determine what may have caused these symptoms.
We will continue to follow this story.
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