Staff Photo / Dan Pompili Emergency responders from Mahoning, Trumbull and Portage counties gathered at the rear of Beeghly Center on Youngstown State University campus on Friday after a pool cleaning employee inadvertently created toxic gas by pouring chlorine into the wrong tank, causing it to mix with another chemical. The building was evacuated but has since been cleaned and will be open for commencement next week.

YOUNGSTOWN — Beeghly Center at Youngstown State University was evacuated Friday after a pool cleaning accident released toxic gas.

The incident occurred shortly before 9:30 a.m. and sent an employee from the pool cleaning company to the hospital. The building remained closed for most of the day as HAZMAT teams and emergency responders from three counties worked to remediate the problem.

Mahoning County HAZMAT Chief Steve Szekely said that the employee for Sharpsville, Pa.-based Barber’s Chemicals poured chlorine into the wrong tank, where it mixed with muriatic acid, creating a corrosive chlorine gas.

That occurred in the tank room just off the Beeghly Center natatorium, near the rear of the building by the loading dock.

In addition to housing the pool and Zidian Family Arena where the YSU basketball teams play, Beeghly Center also houses other athletic facilities and classrooms. The entire building was evacuated.

Szekely and Youngstown fire Chief Barry Finley said the same company caused a similar problem at the YMCA Youngstown central branch downtown in July 2022, when an employee poured aluminum sulfate — also an acidic compound — into the chlorine tank, creating the same type of gas. Three people were taken to the hospital with minor to moderate breathing problems but were released shortly thereafter.

At about 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Szekely said his team — joined by HAZMAT responders from Trumbull and Portage counties — was handling the front end of the remediation.

“The levels are too high in the room, so our guys have to go in there and get it back down to a safe enough level, then we’ll turn it over to the company to finish cleaning it up,” he said.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration states that low levels of exposure to chlorine gas can cause eye, throat, sinus and lung irritation, and coughing, while high levels of exposure can lead to severe respiratory trauma, lung damage and even death.

Szekely said that for chlorine gas the safe exposure level is extremely low. The normal level of chlorine in the air around a pool is about 2 parts per million. The LD50 — a measurement that identifies the dosage at which 50 percent of people exposed will die — is 10 ppm. He said the level in the room before cleanup was 20 to 30 ppm, but it was reduced to zero when they left.

At about 3 p.m., YSU spokesperson Becky Rose said the cleanup was nearly completed and the HVAC units in the building were being turned on to begin circulating fresh air into the building.

Szekely said the gas did not spread much beyond the natatorium and cleanup was finished by 4:30 p.m. He said YSU’s maintenance staff will walk through and test the levels in the building to be sure it is safe.

Some students still have finals next week and commencement ceremonies also will be held in the arena on Friday and Saturday. Rose said the university has been assured the building is safe for those activities.

“We have been given no indication that this will cause any problem in the future,” she said.

Szekely said there could be legal or financial ramifications, but that is mostly up to the university. If the chemicals had spilled and caused any significant contamination to air or waterways, they would have had to report it to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Rose said the university had no comment about whether it would seek any legal or financial restitution from Barber’s for the incident.

Szekely said the condition of the employee taken to the hospital is not known. Rose said the university is unaware of anyone else being exposed or sickened by the incident.

YSU Police, Youngstown Fire Department and Randolph Township Fire Department in Portage County also responded.