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Chemical Leak Closes Old Main

Ashleigh Johnston

Students and faculty were evacuated from a building at Augustana College Monday because of a chemical leak. It happened just before 10 am, during routine maintenance on the the h-v-a-c system in Old Main.

College spokeswoman, Ashleigh Johnston, says leaking refrigerant created a "non-toxic fog" and the building was evacuated as a precaution.

Air tests by the Rock Island Fire Department, and then a restoration company, determined Old Main was safe to enter and people were allowed in briefly at mid-afternoon to pick up their personal belongings.

Johnston says Old Main was closed for the rest of the day but will be open again on Tuesday. 

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.