Idaho Man sent to Hospital after Ammonia Exposure at Simplot Plant

POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — A man working at the Simplot fertilizer plant west of Pocatello was hospitalized in critical condition after apparently being exposed to ammonia over the weekend.

The Power County Sheriff's Office says 23-year-old Derrick E. Martinez of Garden City, Kan., was found unconscious in a Blick's Phosphate Conversion mobile testing trailer on Simplot property Saturday afternoon. He was taken to the hospital in Pocatello and then flown to a hospital in Salt Lake City, where he was listed in critical condition on Monday.

Exposure to high concentrations of ammonia in the air causes immediate burning of the nose, throat and respiratory tract. Power County officials say the cause of the accident remains under investigation.