Chlorine gas release at Covington pool prompts shelter-in-place advisory

Jeanne Houck
Cincinnati Enquirer
Goebel Park in Covington is cordoned off after a chemical spill at the community pool

People living near the pool at Goebel Park in Covington are being told to go inside their homes and close doors and windows after pool chemicals inadvertently got mixed and produced a small cloud of chlorine gas in the pool building.

That’s according to a press release from the city, which issued a shelter-in-place advisory this afternoon for residents living in a roughly one-block area of the pool in the park at 501 Philadelphia St.

"The mixture produced a small cloud of chlorine gas that was confined to the (pool) building, but we went ahead and issued the advisory as a precaution only," Mike Bloemer, assistant chief of training and operations with the Covington Fire Department, said.

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The pool is not scheduled to open until this weekend, but an adult male who was there was taken to the hospital for evaluation, Bloemer said.

People sheltering in place also should turn off any ventilation drawing air into their home from the outside.

Kenton County Homeland Security Emergency Management and the regional hazardous materials team is at the pool.

Covington will post updates on its Facebook page..