Chemical spill reported at Ethel Walker

SIMSBURY, Conn. (WTNH) -- There was a big disruption for students in Simsbury Thursday after a chemical spill.

"Everyone is safe," said Bessie, Head of Schools. "All faculty, staff and students are safe."

It all started with a 911 call around 9:20 Thursday morning from Simsbury's Ethel Walker School. A chemistry teacher walked into a third floor laboratory and discovered something amiss.

"Several chemicals were spilled on the table and the floor, the school evacuated the building," said Kevin Kowalski, Fire Marshall.

This would be no "snow day" for students however, open rooms were found in other buildings or classes met outside. Meanwhile, experts from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection offered their help, determining the spill was nitric acid and caustic soda.

"The nitric acid was concentrated nitric acid, but it was small quantity fortunately," said Jeff Chandler, DEEP emergency response. "It doesn't have a tendency to want to evaporate, so there was no vapors being in the atmosphere."

The lesson in rapid response would end during the early afternoon.

"The products that were mixed together did not create a health issue," said Kowalski.

By 1 p.m. the school looked pretty much like it does on any regular school day. The fire trucks had left, the police cars were gone.

Now the cause of the spill, how it happened, is under investigation.

Ethel Walker is a college preparatory school for girls grades six through 12.