Nitrogen gas leak affects 43 Intel employees in Arizona

Nitrogen gas leaked at Intel Corp.'s Chandler, Arizona, campus Saturday, affecting at least 43 employees with 12 of them sent to a hospital, authorities said, according to UPI. Chandler Fire Department Battalion Chief Tom Dwiggins said the dozen workers were transported to a local hospital for precautionary reasons after complaining of eye and skin irritations, and shortness of breath, KPHO-TV, Phoenix, reported Intel spokeswoman Rachel Sutherland said the leak occurred in the exhaust system of a production tool and was confined to a room below where microprocessors are made, the TV station said. The leak did not prompt an evacuation of nearby neighborhoods, Dwiggins said. "After meeting with the command staff, we stopped the leak, and there's no concern for [residents in surrounding] neighborhoods," the fire chief said. The cause of the leak was being investigated.