KALAELOA — Officials evacuated Campbell Industrial Park for four hours yesterday after chlorine was found leaking from a large cylinder, triggering concerns that the lethal gas could spread.

The fire department's hazardous materials unit contained the leak, and the industrial area was reopened at 5:20 p.m. There were no reports of injuries.

The leak was from a one-ton steel cylinder at B.E.I. Hawaii at 91-0150 Kaomi Loop. The business uses chlorine to manufacture bleach.

The 1:30 p.m. alarm sent dozens of firefighters and police officers to the area as they evacuated a 1.7-mile radius. Hundreds of vehicles streamed out of Campbell Industrial Park throughout the afternoon and police squad cars blocked all roads leading into the industrial area.

Rusty Sylva, 18, who works for American Piping, said he was told to evacuate at around 2:30 p.m.

"Everything has gone wrong today," said Sylva as he stood at the corner of Kalaeloa Boulevard and Malakole Street. "When I came to work today, there was a big fire right over in that same area. I didn't know if I was working today or not. Then, after we start working, we're told to evacuate.

"Now I'm going to have to come in on Saturday because the work isn't finished. My three-day weekend is gone."

According to a report by John Cummings of the city Department of Emergency Management, B.E.I. Hawaii had received a damaged transport container that leaked an undetermined amount of chlorine before being contained.

Plant workers contacted the fire department and evacuated the plant.

Fire Department spokesman Capt. Earl Kealoha said the alarm came in about 1:30 p.m. about the leaking chlorine at the facility. Two HFD Hazmat teams responded and noticed there was bulging and corrosion around the area of the leak.

Out of concern that the cylinder could rupture, and in view of strong easterly winds blowing in the direction of the park, the decision was made to evacuate the area, Kealoha said.

"Everything we started to do from there on was just preparing for the possibility that the tank would rupture and that the product would totally release," Kealoha said.

He said that chlorine vapor, while not flammable, produces an irritating, toxic and corrosive gas once it is released. It not only can cause respiratory problems, but can be fatal in large doses.

Jim Mistysyn, vice president of distribution for B.E.I. Hawaii, said the decision to contact the Fire Department was made as soon as the plant workers noticed the bulge and corrosion around the chlorine leak, which he described as small.

In decades of handling chlorine cylinders, Mistysyn no one at the plant had ever seen a bulge before.

Mistysyn said the Hazmat team was able to safely seal the cylinder and then feed the chlorine into a solution of liquid caustic soda, which is the normal procedure for making bleach.

"That's exactly what we did in this case," Mistysyn said. "There was no accident. It was all cautionary. ... But it's better to err on the side of caution."

Kealoha said about 30 HFD personnel responded to the situation, and about an equal number of police officers.