POCATELLO — Two Simplot contract employees were injured following an ammonia release at the Don Plant early Tuesday morning, Simplot reported.

The plant was evacuated because of the ammonia release but there was never any threat to the public, the Boise-based company stated.

Simplot said the contract employees had minor injuries. One suffered bruises during a fall that occurred when the plant was evacuated while the other had a breathing issue, the company said.

Both employees were transported by Simplot to Portneuf Medical Center where they were treated and released, Simplot said.

Ammonia is considered to be an irritant and can be very dangerous. The Centers for Disease Control states, “High levels of ammonia can irritate and burn the skin, mouth, throat, lungs, and eyes. Very high levels of ammonia can damage the lungs or cause death.”

Simplot reiterated Wednesday about the incident that “there is no ongoing risk to employees or the community” and that the national emergency response center was immediately notified about the situation.

“We are working with local agencies to determine the exact cause of the release, but all ammonia distribution was immediately shut off and the location of the release was isolated,” Simplot stated in an email to the Idaho State Journal.

The names of the injured employees have not been released.

Simplot reported the ammonia release to the Idaho State Communications Center in Meridian within two hours of the incident occurring, according to the incident report filed by the center. The center handles emergency management communications for the entire state.

The center’s report states that an unknown amount of ammonia was released into the air during the incident but the release posed a low threat level and conditions at the plant were described as being “stable.”

Simplot said the ammonia release occurred shortly after midnight early Tuesday morning. The center’s incident report says that around 2 a.m. Tuesday Simplot officials discussed the ammonia release with the Idaho Office of Emergency Management, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and Idaho State Communications Center during a conference call.

The outcome of the call was that the state classified the incident as “regulatory,” meaning Simplot could manage the situation on its own without any outside help, the incident report stated.

Simplot said it reported the ammonia release to state authorities for “documentation purposes only,” adding that the ammonia had all dissipated into the air, the incident report stated.

Around 2:20 a.m. Tuesday Simplot also reported the ammonia release to local law enforcement and Idaho State Police as well as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency but the incident did not necessitate or result in an emergency response to the plant by law enforcement or the Pocatello Fire Department, according to the incident report. Simplot’s in-house medical personnel did respond to the ammonia release.

One discrepancy is that the Idaho State Communications Center’s report says no one was injured during the incident.

Simplot said there were about 300 employees at the plant when the ammonia release occurred. The incident happened during annual routine maintenance at the plant and following the evacuation some employees were allowed to immediately return to work after monitoring equipment showed conditions were safe, Simplot said.

All scheduled Simplot employees returned to work at the plant on Tuesday evening to discuss the incident with management and continue performing the annual maintenance while the contracted employees are expected to return “in the next day or so,” the company said.