© 2024 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Apple's latest iOS (17.4) is preventing our livestreams from playing. We suggest you download the free Boise State Public Radio app & stream us there while we work to troubleshoot the issue.

Worker Exposed To Ammonia At Fertilizer Plant Dies

A man who was working for a subcontractor at a Simplot fertilizer plant near Pocatello has died at a Utah hospital after being exposed to ammonia last weekend.

University of Utah Hospital officials say 23-year-old Derrick E. Martinez of Garden City, Kan., died Wednesday.

Martinez was found unconscious in a mobile testing trailer at the plant on Saturday.

Martinez was taken to a Pocatello hospital and then flow to the Utah hospital.

Exposure to high concentrations of ammonia in the air causes burning of the nose, throat and respiratory tract.

Martinez worked for a Simplot subcontractor, Blick's Phosphate Conversion. Blick's spokesman Kenny Kalb says the cause of the man's exposure is still being investigated.

Copyright 2013 Boise State Public Radio

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.