Classes resume at Berry College after chemical spill, evacuation

The Berry College science building was temporarily evacuated Tuesday due to a chemical spill in a storage room.

Crews have since cleaned up the spill and classes at the Rome school resumed at noon, Berry College spokeswoman Chris Kozelle said.

“All clear,” Kozelle told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday afternoon.

“Out of an abundance of caution,” one student was taken to Floyd Medical Center in the incident, Kozelle said.

A toxic liquid chemical known as Isobutyl Chloroformate spilled out of a chemical storage room in McAllister Hall. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, the chemical is “very corrosive to skin, eyes, and mucous membranes” and “very toxic by ingestion, inhalation and skin absorption.”

MORE: What is Isobutyl Chloroformate?

The spill happened in a room that students use to check out chemicals, and a campus alert was sent just after 9:30 a.m., Kozelle said.

No other injuries were reported in the incident.

In other news:

A pedestrian was hit on Highway 78 eastbound between Interstate 285 and Brockett Road just before 6 a.m. Tuesday.

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