Officials with the Vicksburg Police Department (VPD) will be issuing a Code Red alert through its emergency texting system Monday morning, alerting locals of a transfer of chemicals following a tanker spill Sunday night at Bally’s Casino and Hotel.

VPD Deputy Chief Troy Kimble said the chlorobenzene that spilled from the tanker after it overturned in a parking lot adjacent to the casino will be transferred to a secure tanker for removal from the area at 9 a.m.

“The wind is pushing back across the river and normally the safety radius for something like this is 150 feet, but we’re doubling that and asking that anyone that lives within 300 feet of Bally’s to leave the area from 9 until 11 a.m.,” Kimble said Monday morning. “There’s no immediate danger, but we want to air on the side of caution.”

Sunday night, Vicksburg Fire Chief Derrick Stamps said the tanker was parked in the casino parking lot and not connected to the cab – also known as a  tractor unit – used to transport it along roadways at the time it overturned, spilling chlorobenzene, a solvent often used as a degreasing agent.

Although chlorobenzene is highly flammable, Stamps said Sunday night that the spill had been contained and did not pose an immediate threat to people in the area or to the nearby Mississippi River.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) was called in to assist in the cleanup, Stamps said.

Kimble said Bally’s did not close as a result of the incident; however, visitors were asked to remain inside nearby buildings.

It was not immediately known how the tanker overturned. This is a developing story. More information will be released as it becomes available.