Full Notification

Chemical Spill Mitigated at Local Business

For Immediate Release
Friday, March 18, 2022 3:25 PM
Case# ROH 22-001095

Contact: Lieutenant Kelly Koffler (707) 584-2600
Wed – Sat 8am-6pm
Deputy Chief Aaron Johnson (707) 584-2650
Mon - Fri 8am-5pm

ROHNERT PARK, CA – On 03/18/2022 at 8:50 am, the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety Dispatch Center received a 911 call for a report of a chemical spill that occurred at the Straus Family Creamery located at 655 Park Court.

A container holding a Nitric Acid and Phosphoric Acid cleaning mixture was being delivered to the business and was punctured by a forklift while being offloaded from a semi-truck. This mixture is used to clean and sanitize holding tanks and transfer pipes for dairy products. Approximately 250 gallons of the product spilled into the parking lot.  The first Public Safety units arrived within three minutes and began to have nearby businesses shelter in place as a safety precaution. A community alert was also sent out advising the neighborhood of the spill and to shelter in place as well.

Sonoma County Hazardous Materials specialists were asked to respond to assist Public Safety with mitigating the spill. The spilled material was determined to be safe to dilute and wash away with fire hoses. The business has a filtered cistern system in the parking lot that keeps hazardous materials from entering the storm drains and waterways. The mixture was rinsed into the cistern and the problem was mitigated.

No one was injured during this incident and no chemicals entered the storm drain or local waterways. The shelter in place order was lifted for the area at 10:22 am. The Department of Public Safety would like to thank the Sonoma County Hazardous Materials team for their assistance during this incident.