Waco Pilgrim's Pride Factory Evacuated for Ammonia Leak

The same plant had a major leak in 2015.

A Google Street view of Pilgrim's Pride's Waco, TX facility.
A Google Street view of Pilgrim's Pride's Waco, TX facility.
Google Maps

News station KWTX reported that part of a Pilgrim's Pride poultry plant in Waco, TX had to be evacuated on the evening of March 14 because of an ammonia leak.

It resulted in one hospitalization, but no other injuries.

The report said hazmat and medical response teams were working the case, along with a team of at least 15 firefighters. The facility had to be ventilated that night.

In 2016, OSHA fined the same plant $122,000 for an ammonia leak that the agency said released 79 pounds of ammonia in a September 2015 incident.

It's at least the third ammonia leak from a Pilgrim's Pride plant in the past year. A Jan. 19 leak at a facility in the metro Atlanta, GA town of Canton caused an evacuation and three hospitalizations. And on May 17, 2021, a leak forced the evacuation at the company's prepared foods plant in Moorefield, WV. 

OSHA previously cited Pilgrim's for ammonia hazard violations at its plants in Nacogdoches, TX in February 2015 and De Queen, AR in July 2013.


More in Safety