Yellow plume forms as chemicals leak from New Albany plant again

The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox.

A chemical leak in New Albany sent yellow plumes of smoke into the air on Thursday afternoon, and it's the third time that's happened just this year.

New Albany police Chief Todd Bailey said the leak is coming from Blue Grass Chemical Specialties.

It happened around 3 p.m., and Floyd County health officials said it was determined the release was NOx, oxides of nitrogen. Officials said this is similar to the events that happened earlier this year.

All employees were evacuated from the building and residents in the surrounding and downwind areas were ordered to shelter-in-place while until 4:15 p.m., when the all-clear was given.

A similar situation happened at the same facility back in March, when a tank of nitrate overflowed. There was another situation in June that was deemed non-hazardous.

In all three, a yellow plume was visible in the sky.

Take a look at the plumes over New Albany from Thursday:

Officials did not say what exactly caused the leak.

Local agencies are working with IDEM and OSHA to ensure that the chemical release is handled properly, officials said.