Explosion at Mississippi chemical plant causes ammonia leak, evacuations

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YAZOO CITY, Miss. (AP) — An explosion at a hydrogen and nitrogen product manufacturer in Mississippi on Wednesday caused an ammonia leak and forced nearby residents to evacuate, officials said.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a post on the social platform X that emergency officials from across the state were responding to the anhydrous ammonia leak at CF Industries' plant north of Yazoo City.

No deaths or injuries have been reported, he said.

“Thank you to all of Mississippi’s first responders and emergency managers for quickly responding to the leak,” he said.

CF Industries said in a statement that there are no injuries, and "all employees and contractors on site at the time of the incident have been safely accounted for."

Andre Robinson, who lives about a half-mile from the facility, said he and his son were getting ready to make gumbo when he heard what sounded like a sonic boom or a tree crashing on his house.

“There was a boom and then the house shook,” he said.

When he looked outside, Robinson said he saw a large plume of gray smoke rising from the facility and started to smell a strong scent of ammonia.

“We’re used to the ammonia smell, but not that bad," he said, adding that his family has since evacuated to Jackson.

The Yazoo City facility includes an ammonia plant, four nitric acid plants, along with other plants. It is able to store about 48,000 tons of ammonia, although the exact amount at the facility when the explosion took place was not immediately clear.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality said in a post on X that “air monitoring operations are underway and will continue as long as necessary to ensure public safety.”

Anhydrous ammonia is used as a fertilizer to help provide nitrogen for corn and wheat plants, according to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. If a person touches it when it is in gas or liquid form, they could be burned.

Yazoo City is a small community about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Jackson.