11 People in Wis. Hospitalized After Pool Chemical Mishap
LAKE DELTON, Wis. --
A mechanical malfunction at a Wisconsin Dells-area resort's wave pool was responsible for the chemical incident that sent 11 people to a hospital Tuesday night, Lake Delton police said.
Lake Delton police said an employee at Mt. Olympus Water and Theme Park told them 15 people were having breathing problems when emergency responders first arrived around 6:45 p.m. Eight of them were taken to St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo and three were taken to Reedsburg Area Medical Center to be treated for exposure to chlorine and sulfuric acid.
According to police reports, a release of chlorine and sulfuric acid into the pool -- when the chemicals shouldn't have been released -- caused the incident.
The reports indicate the wave pool was closed for a short time and a filter pump was shut down for maintenance.
But because of a mechanical malfunction, chemicals were still released into the pool when they weren't supposed to be. When the wave system was turned on, it sent the heavy concentration of chemicals into the air, which led to guests who were nearby getting sick, police said.
"It's a machine. I wish we could have all of our engines in our cars run perfectly everyday, but it happened," Mt. Olympus owner Nick Laskaris said. "It's awful this happened, but it's good to know that it wasn't one of my staff members that did that."
Originally, police thought the incident was due to human error. But Laskaris said an internal investigation found that a wire within the system had been dislodged. If connected property, it should have shut off the chemicals when the pump was shut down.
Laskaris said everything is back to normal Wednesday. He said the wave pool is open, and he's thankful no one was seriously hurt. He said the resort has never had a chemical problem with its pools.
Even though it was a mechanical error, Mt. Olympus said it's working hard to increase staff levels to double-check equipment so a similar incident never happens again.
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