Chemical spill prompts evacuation at Upper East Side hospital
UPPER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- A chemical spill has been contained after prompting an evacuation at a hospital in Manhattan's Upper East Side.
It happened around 11 a.m. Wednesday at Mount Sinai Hospital in the 1400 block of Madison Avenue near 100th Street.
Eyewitness News is told the spill happened in a research laboratory on the 19th floor of the hospital, a non-patient care area.
Out of an abundance of caution, designated floors were temporarily evacuated.
A total of 150 people from three floors -- the 18th, 19th and 20th -- were evacuated.
The chemical that spilled is sodium tert-butoxide, a hygroscopic powder that should be stored and handled under an inert atmosphere.
Since this is a non-patient care area, there was no impact to ambulatory or inpatient care. There were no injuries related to the incident, and the hospital says at no time were any patients or members of the community at risk.
Operations have returned to normal.
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