After suffering through floods and fire, the last thing Grand Forks needed was another disaster. Fortunately, rumors about a possible toxic chemical discharge turned out to be false.

At a morning press conference given by city and emergency management authorities – and broadcast live on the radio Monday – there was discussion about a possible loss of electrical power at the CF Industries Inc. plant.

There was cause for concern, authorities said, because the plant stores anhydrous ammonia, a gaseous fertilizer that can be toxic if released into the atmosphere. A loss of power would mean a loss of pressure in the facility’s two giant storage tanks and a possible chemical discharge.

At the CF Industries plant on North Highway 81, plant superintendent Ron Boonstra said there was no cause for concern.

Yes, Boonstra’s men had been sandbagging around the plant’s transformer. And yes, he had asked the Emergency Operations Center to construct a clay dike around the plant to keep the floodwaters back.

But there was virtually no chance that anhydrous ammonia would be released, he said Monday afternoon.

The threatened transformer – secured to an underground electrical connection – was the primary source of electrical power for the plant, but the plant is also serviced by auxiliary overhead power lines. Monday afternoon, Boonstra was also looking for a backup generator for the facility as a third line of defense.

Even if all those systems failed and power was lost, Boonstra said, the area’s air would likely remain safe. The plant has a fail-safe system in place that burns any ammonia released through a venting system.

Those backup plans may never go into effect, however. Boonstra said that water levels around the plant stabilized Monday afternoon.