Wynn Sulfuric Acid Spill Injures Visitor, Closes Part Of Las Vegas Strip
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LAS VEGAS — A hotel visitor was injured and a stretch of the Las Vegas Strip was shut down for more than two hours Thursday after a caustic acid leaked outside the Wynn resort, authorities said.
The visitor slipped and fell in a puddle of sulfuric acid after about 200 gallons leaked when a pipe broke during delivery just after 8 a.m., Clark County spokeswoman Stacey Welling said.
Paramedics treated the man and he was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in stable condition, Welling said.
Welling called the leak near the front entrance to the Wynn an accident, and said the man was hurt before police and firefighters arrived and cordoned off the area.
Las Vegas police Officer Marcus Martin said the Strip was closed to prevent people from being exposed to vapors from the corrosive acid.
The road reopened at about 10:30 a.m., but police Officer Bill Cassell said traffic was expected to remain snarled while workers dug up flower beds to replace contaminated soil.
The scene wasn't far from the International Consumer Electronics Show, a hugely popular gadget expo drawing more than 126,000 people to the nearby Las Vegas Convention Center and other sites.
Jason Oxman, spokesman for the event host, the Consumer Electronics Association, acknowledged that traffic was disrupted for a time on the Strip, but said CES opened on time and quickly filled with attendees.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. spokeswoman Jennifer Dunne said the injured man was a visitor but not a guest at the 50-story, 2,700-room resort with the distinctive curved face and bronze reflective color.
The man's name, age and hometown were not immediately made public.
Clark County firefighters and Las Vegas fire hazardous materials crews were quickly able to neutralize most of the acid without any additional risk to passers-by and resort guests, Welling said.
Cassell said they used soda ash, a base mineral also known as sodium carbonate, to counteract the acidity of the sulfuric acid.
Neither the Wynn, the nearby Fashion Show mall or any other buildings in the area were evacuated. But Wynn employees prevented guests from using the front entrance, and police widened an outdoor cordon to include parts of Fashion Show Drive and Spring Mountain Road.
Access to and across pedestrian walkways wasn't restricted.
"I guess this is going to be a long walk," said David O'Dell, 48, a New Yorker and Wynn guest. He said he was prevented from leaving the Wynn through the main entrance, where he had hoped to hail a taxi.
Dunne said the chemical that spilled was being delivered for use as an acidity regulator in the resort water feature, the Lake of Dreams, fronting Las Vegas Boulevard.
Sulfuric acid is a water-soluble acid used as a component in vehicle batteries, and in mining, refining and wastewater processing.
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Associated Press writer Ken Ritter and AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson contributed to this report.
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CRISTINA SILVA 01/ 6/11 06:42 PM ET Associated Press