Barrie Fire and Emergency Services were called to the scene of a sodium hydrochloride spill in a storage building at the Bradford Street Wastewater Treatment Plant.
500 litres of the liquid, which is basically bleach but about seven per cent stronger than household bleach, spilled but was contained in the storage building.
Firefighters got the call at 3:41 p.m. Tuesday.
They donned Level A hazmat suits to enter the spill area to ensure it was contained and then used absorbal to help with clean up operations.
"Level A is the highest level of hazmat suit that we have but it is just precautionary," said Samantha Hoffmann, Barrie's Public Fire and Life Safety Officer.
Hoffmann says there is no concern the spill could contaminate the water.
"I spoke with some of the workers who said that it's basically chlorine bleach. It is a spill but it is contained. Our crews are going in. They're checking to make sure that it is in fact safe for the remediation company that has to clean it up."
"The area is designed with a containment area," said Hoffmann. "It's just a storage facility so there isn't actually anybody that works in the building so there's no injuries. There was a strong smell originally."
Three city employees were removed from an adjacent building.
GFL Environmental is on scene and is now cleaning up the spill.
