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Fire breaks out at Norlite, quickly extinguished

Jan 19, 2021 5:30 am

Rick Karlin is reporting for the Times Union fire briefly broke out Mon., Jan. 19, at the Norlite aggregate plant in Cohoes. Authorities believe that spilled fuel outside of one building led to a brief fire starting shortly after 11 a.m. No injuries were reported and Cohoes city firefighters had it out within 20 minutes, fire Captain Jason Geary said. Norlite spokesman Prince Knight noted that the facility immediately implemented its contingency plan and contacted the city fire department. “Once the fire was extinguished, facility personnel immediately notified both the Department of Environmental Conservation and Cohoes Mayor Bill Keeler. The incident is under review by Norlite’s Environmental, Health and Safety, Engineering and Operations departments,” Knight said. “The Norlite team wishes to thank the Cohoes Fire and Police Departments for their immediate and professional response.” Norlite has been in the news for the past yearwhen it was learned the company had been incinerating potentially toxic PFAS compounds in the company’s kiln, which processes shale rock into construction and road-building aggregate. Burning of the compound has since been banned under state law. Read the full story in the Times Union.