Source of odor that forced hazmat situation, evacuations at Clayton assisted living facility identified

CLAYTON, N.C. (WNCN) — UPDATE: 11:40 a.m.:

Evacuations have been halted at the Springbrook Nursing & Rehabilitation Center after a hazmat situation.

Officials say the situation was caused by PB Blaster spray being put on the wheels of multiple meal carts. The spray is used to get rid of rust and has been determined to be the source of the odor.

Once the carts started to move from the kitchen, the odor traveled across the building, officials tell CBS 17.

Officials have been cleaning the building and opening windows to air the odor out.

The transportation of the residents/patients has been halted. So far, officials say 44 of the 94 residents had been removed from the building.

Eight of those 44 are currently still on a multi-transport bus sitting in the parking lot and will likely be brought back into the building. 

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A nursing and rehabilitation center in Clayton had to be evacuated Monday morning due to a hazmat situation, Johnston County emergency officials told CBS 17.

Springbrook Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, located at 195 Springbrook Ave., was evacuated Monday morning around 8 a.m. due to a hazmat situation, officials said.

Clayton and Cleveland emergency crews responded to the scene and evacuated the 94 patients and 50 employees at the nursing center, officials said.

The nursing center manages two facilities in Dunn and one in Wake County. According to Town of Clayton spokeswoman Stacy Beard, in the process of moving patients, four others complained of distress and were taken to the nearby hospital to be checked out.

Authorities aren’t sure if the issue is a gas leak or a chemical cocktail that caused issues for some people in the building. Piedmont Natural Gas could not detect any levels either and determined their lines to the building were not affected.

Two employees were transported to the hospital following the hazmat situation, but they were treated and immediately released, Clayton officials said.

A total of six people, including the two employees, were transported to the hospital to be checked out, Beard says. These are not believed to be life-threatening issues.

While gas was temporarily shut off to this facility, no other businesses in the Springbrook Medical Park are affected by the outage or odor call, according to Beard.

CBS 17 has a crew at the scene and this story will be updated as it develops.