In a potato preservation and transformation plant, an employee observed the activation of an alarm on the potato storage cooling circuit. The subcontractor assigned to maintain the refrigeration installations was notified in order to diagnose and resolve the problem. In the machine room located in front of the implicated refrigerated storage, a leak was detected at 1:30 pm on the copper pipe used to inject the chlorinated fluorinated refrigerant (R22) into the compressor oil reservoir. This pipe was slit open over 1 cm, and 300 kg of refrigerant were released into the atmosphere. A weld was placed on the defective pipe section, and the circuit was inspected. This crack, due to vibrations and wear (rigid connection), had not been present at the time of the most recent regulatory equipment inspection, conducted in July 2008. The installation, which comprised 2 refrigeration circuits, was ultimately recorded as empty while awaiting its modification for enhanced security, as the site operator made the decision to: – not reload R22 (CFC), which was replaced by a hydrochlorofluorocarbon gas (HFC), – install a solenoid valve on the liquid inlet with leak detection and servo-controlled circuit closure, – add an alarm on the liquid reservoir (lower threshold) and gas detectors in the compressor room, – replace the copper pipes with flexible hoses. A financing request was submitted internally to cover the corresponding works.