Photo credit: KSL
PLEASANT GROVE, Utah – Nearly 50 people were either transported or went to a hospital after being exposed to too much chlorine at a Pleasant Grove pool Tuesday afternoon.
The incident began about 5 p.m. at South Pleasant Grove Veterans Memorial Pool, 582 East 300 in Pleasant Grove.
Most of these people are believed to be children. Pleasant Grove Police Captain Britt Smith described it as a “freak” malfunction of a pump system.
“That pump shut down and it tripped,” Smith said. “When it was turned back on there was an inordinate amount of chlorine that was pumped into a single jet into the pool and so there was an increased amount of chlorine that was experienced in an isolated area.”
Eight ambulances were used to transport over two dozen people from the pool to local hospitals.
“The patients initially presented with bloody noses, coughing, and vomiting,” Smith said. “So anybody with those symptoms were transported.”
He said there were about 22 people who self-transported to the hospital. He also says they don’t believe there to be any life-threatening injuries.
While chlorine gas is still likely in the area, Smith says it is not dangerous enough to evacuate.
UPDATE: