Environmental Protection Agency records show there was a spill at the plant in 1989 and another in 1990 while chemicals were being transported. Four people were injured in the second incident; no details were available, however.
Chem Design employs 275 people in Fitchburg.
The company produces photoactive compounds for the micro-electronics and lithographic industries. It is a subsidiary of Miles Inc., a Pittsburgh-based chemical company owned by the German corporation Bayer AG.
Officials Report Third Case of Meningitis
SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--A third case of bacterial meningitis has been reported at a western Massachusetts college.
David Brooks, a spokesperson for Western New England College, said yesterday that college officials were notified a week ago by New York City health officials that a student had been diagnosed with the disease while home on spring break.
He identified the student as Prashant Swarup, but refused to release his address, age or class. Brooks said Swarup was recovering and expected to be released from the hospital in a few days.
The same day that Western New England officials were notified about Swarup, Nishth Adhvaryu, 20, a junior at Amherst College, about 30 miles away, died of the disease.
Adhvaryu, from Streamwood, Ill., died a day after she was admitted to the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester and a second Amherst College student was hospitalized. The second student has recovered.
Amherst College officials immediately notified students and staff and arranged for those who had been in close contact with the two students to receive preventative antibiotics.
Sean Fitzpatrick, a spokesperson for the state health department, said Monday the cases at the two colleges were unrelated. He said the Amherst students were stricken with a Group C bacteria, while the Western New England student had been infected with a Group Y bacteria.
Normally, he said, about 46 cases of bacterial meningitis are reported in the state annually and health officials become concerned only if two or more cases are reported in one location.
Bacterial meningitis is a disease that can cause inflammation around the brain and spinal cord and make victims very sick within a day of exposure. It is fatal in about one out of every seven cases, public health authorities say.
However, Dr. Alan Rothman, a specialist in infectious diseases at the UMass Medical Center, said bacterial meningitis typically does not spread rapidly.
It can be transmitted by sneezing, kissing or sharing food or drinks. Symptoms include fever, severe headache, neck stiffness, or a rash that can easily be mistaken for less serious illness. Outbreaks often occur among people in close living quarters like army barracks or college dormitories.
Immediately after being advised that Swarup had been stricken college officials tracked down his roommate to inform him and started putting together a list of Swarup's close contacts, Brooks said.
"That took a couple of days, because the students were on break and scattered," he said. Distribution of college-wide warnings did not begin until Friday, he said.