Chemical Accidents Page 4

Chemical Accidents Page #4

This page was last updated on  05/06/2010

City worker gets sick from fumes at landfill
By Erin Madsen Jul 3, 2003, 09:48
CARLSBAD — A city worker was taken to the emergency room on Wednesday after inhaling noxious fumes while cleaning out a garbage truck’s compactor at the landfill, officials said. The man, whose name has not been released, was treated and released from Carlsbad Medical Center after he reported feeling dizzy and had difficulty breathing, said Public Works Director Luis Camero. “It could happen every day, but it doesn’t happen very often,” Camero said. “You never know what you pick up; it’s part of the job.” The Carlsbad Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Unit responded to the scene and closed the landfill for two hours before concluding that the fumes that caused discomfort in the worker consisted of a mixture of waste products, Fire Chief Mike Reynolds said. Hazmat workers cleaned out the garbage truck’s compactor, which the man was attempting to do manually when he became ill, and allowed the “sun and heat and the winds” to remedy the problem, Reynolds said. Since 1995, two similar incidents have occurred involving solid waste department employees becoming ill from fumes, Camero said. The fumes are generally from hazardous waste such as aerosol cans mixing with other chemicals like paint products, which can cause a bad reaction in some people’s bodies, he said. “Fortunately, our procedure is to have another person with the (garbage truck) driver,” Camero said. “That person serves as an aide in case something happens. Fortunately, we’ve never had the situation where someone had to go in and rescue the other person.” In the most recent episode, the city worker was able to get himself out of the garbage truck before going to the emergency room, Camero said. He said such incidents could be stopped if people were more aware of what they should and should not dispose of at the city landfill, he said. 

Accident at Eugene, Ore., Rail Yard Spills Toxic Chemical
Source: The Register Guard Publication date: 2003-07-01
Jul. 1–A hazardous materials team responded to a chemical spill in the west Eugene rail yard on Monday that injured three railroad employees. The incident occurred at 12:50 p.m. in the rail yard when liquid phenol splashed out of a tank car and onto at least one yard crew member, who was decontaminated by firefighters at the site, Eugene district fire Chief Joe Zaludek said. Another worker also may have breathed the fumes, he said. The spill occurred when the crew was switching the tank car from a train, said John Bromley, a Union Pacific Railroad spokesman in Omaha, Neb. He said three employees were taken to the hospital and treated, and two were released. One was expected to be released within 24 hours, he said. He declined to give their names. It wasn’t known how much of the chemical spilled, he said. Phenol — a versatile substance used to make plastics, resins, fertilizers and paints — is highly poisonous, Zaludek said. The worker decontaminated at the site had phenol on his neck, back, arm and hand, he said. He walked from the tanker to meet the hazardous materials crew in a grassy area east of Highway 99, where Bethel Drive curves to the south. There, the crew set up a containment area, using plastic to form a small tub, and hosed him off for 20 minutes, Zaludek said. The railroad also provided an antidote, a substance that binds with the phenol making it easier to remove, he said. The man was then wrapped in plastic, so that he wouldn’t contaminate the ambulance, and taken to the hospital. Both the worker and ambulance crew member riding with him breathed through respirators to avoid inhaling any lingering fumes, Zaludek said. Because of federal medical privacy laws, neither Sacred Heart Medical Center nor McKenzie-Willamette Hospital will release condition information without patient permission. Some hazardous materials crew members also were hosed off after the incident. The railroad will dispose of the water used for cleanup, Zaludek said. According to a federal Web site on toxic substances, phenol can cause mild to severe chemical burns depending on the length of time it is in contact with a person’s skin. Breathing phenol vapors can burn the lining of the nose, throat and lungs. The skin easily absorbs the chemical, which can cause irregular breathing and irregular heart rhythms as well as seizures and coma. Union Pacific is investigating the cause of the accident, Bromley said. 

Chlorine gas leaks at water plant 
By BGDailyNews.com
Bowling Green firefighters responded Monday to a chlorine leak at the Bowling Green Municipal Utilities’ water treatment plant on Chestnut Street, which sent plant workers and construction workers running from the scene. Fire personnel were called to the Bowling Green Municipal Utilities water treatment plant Monday after a small leak was detected in a chlorine tank. According to Bowling Green Fire Department public information Officer Marlee Boenig, seven units and 20 personnel were called to the plant at 16 Chestnut St. at 3:15 p.m. when the leak was discovered. Boenig said BGMU’s personnel evacuated the building when they were unable to stop the leak. The fire department sent a team in and it was determined that the valve had shut itself off, as it is designed to do. Boenig said the leak was contained nearly an hour after it started and there was no danger to the public or its water supply. One firefighter was treated for minor heat exhaustion, but was back on duty today. 

Hydrogen tanks at El Cajon plant are shut down 
By Mark Arner UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER July 1, 2003 
An apparent loss of power triggered an emergency shutdown of six hydrogen tanks at an aerospace manufacturing plant in El Cajon early yesterday and prompted a three-hour closure of nearby roads and railroad tracks. Firefighters from the El Cajon Fire Department detected no leakage of flammable hydrogen gas at the plant, however, and no one was injured, officials said. The roads and tracks were reopened at 4:30 a.m. The incident was reported at 1:32 a.m. at the GKN Aerospace Chem-tronics plant on West Bradley Avenue, near Cuyamaca Street, said a dispatcher with the Heartland dispatching service. The tanks involved were large: About 20 feet long and 36 inches in diameter – the kind towed behind tanker trucks. The first of 21 firefighters arrived in five minutes. Firefighters came in eight vehicles, including three fire engines, a ladder truck, two paramedics ambulances and one hazardous materials response vehicle. The cause of the power loss was being investigated yesterday by plant workers, said Julian Medina, environmental affairs manager. To avoid similar problems, a backup power supply might be ordered, Medina said. The plant produces parts for aircraft and space vehicles such as the NASA space shuttle. 

UPDATE Lawsuit Filed Over Louisville Air Pollution
LOUISVILLE, July 1st, 2003, 10:25 a.m.) — A Louisville chemical plant has been sued by a family who claims they have suffered from headaches, nausea, insomnia and rashes as a result of pollution. One of the lawyers for the family, Thomas E. Clay, called the lawsuit filed Monday “the opening shot” in what he said would be a vigorous legal battle aimed at reducing air pollution from the Rubbertown industrial area. Clay said he anticipates that other plants in western Louisville will be targeted by other residents filing suit. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of Renee Murphy, her husband, Terry, and their children. They claim pollution is a nuisance that has deprived them of full use and enjoyment of their home. “I stopped work three years ago due to my acute migraines,” Renee Murphy said during an interview Monday in Clay’s office. The lawsuit names the Noveon chemical plant as the defendant. It seeks a permanent injunction against nuisance emissions and $300,000 in damages. The lawyers filed against Noveon because of an accident at the plant last week that sent a cloud of hydrochloric acid vapors into the Murphys’ neighborhood. Seven people working on the nearby Shawnee Expressway went to hospitals for treatment and observation, officials said last week. The vapor release “was our smoking gun,” Clay said. Noveon is located on part of the former B.F. Goodrich Co. plant, and it makes material that is used to produce plastic pipes. Its site manager, Jeff Campbell, said he was sorry to learn of the lawsuit. “We want to maintain the residents’ confidence that we can and will operate safely,” he said. He declined to comment on the lawsuit because neither he nor Noveon lawyers had seen it. Renee Murphy has been involved with the Justice Resource Center, and Monday she was supported by its leader, the Rev. Louis Coleman, who said, “We are elated that the legal community has come up to the plate.” Phillip Shepherd, another of the Murphys’ lawyers, said the lawsuit was triggered in part by revelations about air quality that have come from a West Jefferson County Community Task Force air-sampling project. The task force and its key partner, the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District, have not yet released an official draft analysis of the air sampling, which occurred over 12 months in 2000 and 2001. However, an analysis published May 12 by The Courier-Journal of the monitoring data identified 18 chemicals or compounds at concentrations in Louisville’s air that were hundreds of times higher than what government officials consider safe. The newspaper later obtained the draft risk assessment and reported on its findings May 22. That draft by a Virginia consulting firm identified 26 chemicals or compounds at excessive concentrations and identified cumulative health risks of cancer and other illnesses at air monitors in Louisville that were at or above what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had previously estimated for anywhere in the nation. The Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District has primary responsibility for enforcing the Clean Air Act. The district’s director, Art Williams, said Monday his agency has been doing what it should to address problems with hazardous air pollutants. The final risk assessment report of the air sampling data is scheduled to be completed in a few weeks, he said. Then his agency can begin to determine the sources of pollutants that put the community at risk, he said. “We’re moving as quickly as we can to lower risk levels,” Williams added. 

Chemical leak evacuates 80 homes
July 1, 2003 — A chemical leak in Downers Grove evacuated 80 homes. Ten people were injured-five of them were firefighters. All are expected to be OK. A tank of chlorine used to treat water is apparently leaking. The Downers Grove firefighters eventually contained the leak with the help of the Chicago Fire Department. They sent over gear to trap the fumes. Many of the evacuated residents spent the night at a park district building while some managed to check in to some nearby hotels. All the evacuated residents are being allowed back to their homes this morning. 

UPDATE Manslaughter conviction for Midlands paint-stripping double fatality
Ian Morris, 48, has been found guilty by majority verdict at Birmingham Crown Court of the manslaughter of two men who died on a nightshift when overcome by chemical vapours after a mistake was made mixing chemicals. Mr Morris was the employer of Mumtaz Hussain, 42, and Ghulam Sarwar, 22, who died at the premises of ENG Industrial Services in West Bromwich in 1999. Mr Morris will be sentenced at a later date. HSE spokeswoman Jan Willets commented: “This verdict will send a message to employers that they have to ensure the safety of their workers or face conviction.”

Firm’s acid leak escape Jun 28 2003
By The Huddersfield Daily Examiner
FORTY trout died in Fenay Beck when diluted acid accidentally leaked into the water from the Syngenta chemical works, Huddersfield, magistrates heard. But the company was granted an absolute discharge after the court was told of the “exemplary” way in which it dealt with the incident. Miss Jill Fogg, prosecuting on behalf of the Environment Agency, said workers at the Leeds Road plant spotted dead fish in Fenay Beck on September 20, 2001. Environment Agency workers tested the beck and found it was acidic. Syngenta pleaded guilty to polluting water by noxious matter. Magistrates sentenced the firm to an absolute discharge but ordered them to pay costs of £3,747.60. Mr Ray Clarke, for Syngenta, said the fault was traced to construction work carried out six years earlier on the site. A £100m plant for making weedkiller was built by an international drainage pipe company. Two miles of pipe had been laid and the fault was traced to a six-yard length which had not been connected up properly and was buried underground. Mr Clarke said: “Syngenta can be forgiven for thinking that the real culprit is the contractor with a national reputation which was responsible.” He added that Syngenta had re-stocked the river with 150 new fish. The firm had diluted the acid with water from its reservoir used to fight fires and there had been no long-term damage, he said. Mr Clarke said the firm employed its own wildlife officer and had increased the number of badgers and foxes in the area and tested air quality. 

UPDATE Diaz Chemical Corp. Has Ceased Operations
Source: Buffalo News Publication date: 2003-06-25
A chemical company that leaked a chemical in early 2002 and exposed residents to a variety of health ailments, has closed and will sell its equipment to pay off creditors. Diaz Chemical Corp. has “ceased operations, and no longer has employees,” company lawyer Bruce Lawrence said Monday. The company filed a Chapter 7 petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the Democrat & Chronicle of Rochester reported. In May the federal Environmental Protection Agency had ordered Diaz Chemical to install additional safety equipment, but the company said it couldn’t afford the equipment. The bankruptcy court will appoint a trustee to oversee the sale of the assets. Money raised will be used to repay creditors and possibly assist with the plant’s cleanup, Lawrence said. The facility is listed as a hazardous waste site by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Diaz, which had operated since 1974 in this village of 2,000 residents 20 miles west of Rochester, has between $500,000 and $1 million in assets and owes between 100 and 200 creditors debts totaling between $1 and $10 million, the petition said. About 75 gallons of 2-chloro-6-fluorophenol gushed into the air from the plant on Jan. 5, 2002, after a release valve blew. Residents who were exposed said they suffered nausea, breathing difficulties, skin burns, eye and skin irritation and loss of appetite. Several of the 16 or more families displaced by the spill on Jan. 5, 2002, did not return to their homes, citing health worries. A state Health Department study determined the chemical, used to make drugs, would most likely not cause long-term health problems. The chemical is not considered a poison but hasn’t been studied thoroughly by the industry because it is a relatively new material, the company said. The displaced families, along with more than 150 other residents, filed suit against Diaz in March 2002, seeking more than $60 million in damages. The state Attorney General’s Office and Department of Environmental Conservation have also sued. 

Hanford unaware of radioactive substance 
June 27th, 2003 By John Stang Herald staff writer
A radioactive powder inhaled by three Hanford tank farm employees was likely not identified as a potential hazard prior to Wednesday’s incident. At a Thursday press conference, CH2M Hill official Susan Eberlein believed the radioactive cesium powder inside a long-abandoned jumper hose was not identified as a hazard before it was moved, releasing a “little poof … of sooty dust material” that contaminated nearby Hanford workers. However, Eberlein, CH2M Hill’s vice president for environmental safety, health and quality assurance, added that needed to be verified. After checking 12 workers, Hanford experts concluded three inhaled small amounts of radioactive cesium. One works for Fluor Hanford and the other two work for CH2M Hill. Cesium emits gamma radiation, which can penetrate skin and body tissue and breaks down cells. It is soluble in water and can be flushed from the body. The radiation doses absorbed by all four were measured at less than 100 millirem, she said. Five rem — or 5,000 millirem — is the maximum legal dose that a federal worker can receive in a year. Hanford’s regulations limit the annual dose to 500 millirem. All four workers are being kept out of radiation control areas until the investigation is finished. Also, the entire 12 tested clean for chemical contamination. The incident occurred shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday at a junction pit at the AW Tank Farm in the 200 East Area. These 8- to 10-foot-deep concrete pits are scattered throughout the tank farms. Underground pipes from the subterranean tanks lead to these pits, where stainless steel and flexible “jumper” hoses connect the pipes so wastes can be pumped from tank to tank. In preparation for the job, potential hazards were routinely identified. Safety measures included spraying the pit with a varnishlike film to plaster contaminated particles to the walls and floor. A chest-high, apronlike barrier was erected along the top of the pit to catch any possible splashes. Workers were in the appropriate protective clothes, but did not wear respirators because the hazard analysis determined they would not be needed. A jumper hose had been abandoned on the pit’s floor for several years. A crane hooked one end of the hose and lifted it up several feet when the powder “poofed” out of the hose’s lower end to hit the faces of the surrounding workers. Nasal swabs and other preliminary radiation checks identified 12 Fluor and CH2M Hill workers as possibly contaminated. Meanwhile, a glitch occurred in taking care of the workers. At 1:30 p.m., a bomb threat was called into an administrative building near the AW Tank Farm, causing about 200 employees to be evacuated from that area. In the confusion, the potentially contaminated workers were not assigned health advocates in a timely manner. A health advocate is a person assigned to an accident or contamination victim to look specifically after that employee’s health interests. “I feel badly about that. It made the workers feel we didn’t care,” Eberlein said. After the bomb threat’s confusion had subsided, health advocates were assigned to the workers. All 12 checked-out tank farm employees returned to work Wednesday. Cleanout of the pit is delayed while the investigation continues. One unanswered question is the origin of the cesium-laced powder in the jumper hose, Eberlein said. The tank farms had been plagued with reports of vapors — mostly ammonia and organic chemicals venting from the tanks. The tank farms recorded 20 of these incidents in 2002, and then had a spike of eight reports in January and February of this year. After that, the reports dropped to zero when repairs were made. However, those vapor reports prompted CH2M Hill to make sure that the workers from Wednesday’s incident were checked for chemical, as well as radioactive contamination, Eberlein said.

UPDATE Probe into chemical spill at SFI still on 
Kota Kinabalu: The Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) said the overall investigation involving the chemical spill incident at the Sabah Forest Industry (SFI) complex on April 18 has yet to be completed, pending interviews with all the victims concerned. Sabah DOSH Director Zailee Dollah said: “We need to interview the victims before making any decision and the kind of action that needs to be taken.” Zailee said his officers had compiled all the statements recorded from SFI officers and would call them again for another round of interviews, if necessary. During the incident, four SFI workers were rushed to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) here for treatment of serious burns sustained when the chemicals they were mixing exploded inside the SFI pulp and paper mill in Sipitang. They suffered severe first-degree burns affecting 60-70 per cent of their bodies, including their eyes. One of the victims, Lasius Tinggi, succumbed to his injuries a few days later, while the others, Osman Arsad, 29, Jaafar Junid, 38, and Ajahari Ali were warded in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). When contacted Friday, QEH Director Datin Dr Rahimah Mohd Said assured that all remaining victims had responded positively to the treatment accorded at the hospital. She said Ajahari had been transferred to the eye surgical ward for further treatment, while Osman has recovered and can walk and eat on his own. However, Jaffar was said to be still in a bad shape but in a stable condition. “It’s still difficult to determine his condition at the moment,” she said, adding that he is being given food and medicine through tube feeding. According to Dr Rahimah, all the three had gone through plastic surgery to repair and replace dead tissues. She, however, acknowledged that SFI had given a lot of help in terms of financial assistance for purchase of medicines not available at the QEH, to ensure the speedy recovery of the victims.

Acidic cloud after plant fire sends 7 workers to hospitals; Blaze inside tank at chemical plant leads to vapors 
By JAMES BRUGGERS The Courier-Journal 
PHOTOS BY NICK TOMECEK, SPECIAL TO THE COURIER-JOURNAL 
Renee Murphy, who lives on Algonquin Parkway near the Noveon plant, was upset that she wasn’t warned about the vapor cloud. “No one knocked on the door and asked if everyone was OK,” she said. 
Plant manager Jeff Campbell said the accident occurred in an area where chlorinated polyvinyl chloride is mixed with colorings and other compounds. The fire at the Noveon plant occurred in a tank. The company makes powders that are used to make water pipes. A fire contained in a tank at the Noveon chemical plant on Bells Lane yesterday produced irritating acid vapors that sent seven people working at the nearby Shawnee Expressway to area hospitals, officials said. The highway construction workers were taken to Caritas and Humana Southwest hospitals for treatment and observation, said Brad Learn, assistant manager at the Louisville Metro Emergency Management Agency. Two of the unnamed workers had trouble breathing and the others wanted to be examined by doctors, Learn said. By early afternoon one worker remained in the hospital for observation, said Andrea Clifford, spokeswoman for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. The 4:45 a.m. accident provoked critics who are pressing local officials to do more to curb air pollution following new revelations about poor air quality in the Louisville area. Yesterday they raised questions about how metro government officials handled notifying the public of the accident. “No one knocked on the door and asked if everyone was OK,” said Renee Murphy, who lives near Noveon on Algonquin Parkway. She was awake at 5 a.m. and noticed the vapor cloud. Murphy said it smelled like burning rubber or plastic. “It was thick,” she said. “It was foul.” Metro government officials should have at least telephoned residents closest to the plant, said the Rev. Louis Coleman, whose Justice Resource Center has been pressing for years for reductions in industrial emissions in western Louisville. But Learn said the incident wasn’t serious enough for officials to issue a formal order for people to stay in their homes and workplaces. Officials opted not to use neighborhood sirens or activate an automated phone warning system, he said. Instead, officials announced over radio stations that anyone who was sensitive to air pollution might want to stay indoors, Learn said. “It was a judgment call,” he said. Learn said the vapor cloud contained hydrochloric acid in concentrations high enough to cause irritation, but no long-term health effects. “There was a little bit of a burning chemical odor to it,” he said. The cloud spread at least half a mile away, to the Shawnee Expressway, where construction workers were bothered by the vapors, Learn said. Originally, officials reported that eight workers went to two area hospitals. Later Clifford said it was seven — one state inspector and six people working for private contractors. In all, 25 workers were evacuated from the construction site to a nearby triage area. Learn said there was no need to close the freeway because motorists would drive through the cloud quickly. The vapor cloud had been in an area immediately west and south of the plant and by 7 a.m. the hydrochloric acid had dissipated, Learn said. Noveon plant manager Jeff Campbell said he wants the community to know “this is not normal operations. ” The incident began in a mixing tank at Noveon, part of what was formerly the B.F. Goodrich Co. facility in the Rubbertown complex of chemical plants. Campbell said the accident occurred in a part of the plant where chlorinated polyvinyl chloride is mixed with colorings and other compounds. The company has two such mixing tanks, and both were shut down indefinitely yesterday while plant officials investigate the cause of the release. The Noveon plant, which has 135 employees, produces plastic powders and pellets that are used to make different kinds of water pipe. Campbell said he hopes the plant will be back in full operation within a week, but the company has no intention of starting up until ” we put fixes in place” to prevent a similar accident. He said smoldering plastic caused the vapor. Campbell said plant officials feel badly about the construction workers who were sent to hospitals. “We don’t want to expose anybody in this community to any hazards,” he said. The accident occurred on what was already predicted to be a day for high ground-level ozone pollution throughout the area. The calm conditions that allowed smog to build up yesterday allowed the acid vapors to hang low like a fog, Learn said. Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District officials, who regulate emissions from industrial facilities, were investigating the incident yesterday, agency spo keswoman Rebecca Stutsman said . Sometimes accidental releases of pollutants can prompt the agency to issue a notice of violation and fine, she said. Murphy, the Algonquin Parkway resident, said the accident is especially troubling coming so soon after news coverage last month on a draft air-sampling report for the metro area that found excessive levels of 26 hazardous air pollutants and unacceptably high cumulative health risks. The accident, she said, reminded her of why she wants industrial plants in western Louisville to reduce their emissions. “When they (companies) keep saying they are cleaning (the air) up, I don’t know what they are talking about, ” she said. Western Louisville resident Roosevelt Roberts and Coleman were taking air samples yesterday as part of the Justice Resource Center’s new involvement with a national organization that helps citizens conduct environmental monitoring.

Workers taken to hospital after onion plant incident 
06/26/03
HERMISTON — More than 80 people were treated at Good Shepherd Medical Center for carbon monoxide exposure after an incident at an onion processing plant, a hospital official said Wednesday. Twelve people were admitted overnight for observation on Tuesday after they complained of nausea, dizziness and headaches while working at Rivergate Farms, said Kelly Sanders, Good Shepherd vice president of ancillary services. One person was released Wednesday morning, he said. Sanders said 84 people were taken to the hospital after the 2 p.m. incident, some in ambulances and others in a bus provided by the fire department. Exhaust from three forklifts operating inside the plant caused the symptoms, said Steve Frazier, assistant fire chief. “Everything’s pointing to carbon monoxide.” Plant worker Yaquilina Victorio, 26, said two or three people complained of feeling ill Tuesday morning, and an ambulance was called. By midday Tuesday, she said, she felt as if she couldn’t breathe. Lightheaded and weak, Victorio opened a door to allow fresh air in. Shortly afterward, she and co-workers left the building. She and others received medical attention. “They told us to come back to work (Thursday),” she said. “But I want to make sure the plant is not contaminated.” The U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration will investigate, Frazier said.

Ciba plant reports chemical release 
06/25/03 By BILL FINCH and BEN RAINES Staff Reporters
An overheated boiler led to a release of unspecified chemicals from the Ciba Specialty Chemicals plant in McIntosh late Monday, according to company officials. Scott Tew, the company’s environmental officer, said the chemicals were related to the production of the pesticide Diazinon, and were released as vapors into the air around the plant, which is in Washington County about 30 miles north of Mobile. Tew said there were no fires, explosions or injuries associated with the incident, and workers were allowed to return to their normal work schedule at the plant shortly after noon Tuesday. “We have been performing air monitoring and are cooperating with local officials in monitoring the situation to ensure the safety of our employees and the community,” a company news release said. “It was not necessary for the community to take any actions.” Tew said he wasn’t sure what chemical compounds were included in the vapor release, but a foul-smelling sulfur odor was noticeable, even in the surrounding community. “We know it was a sulfur compound, because of the smell. That’s all we can say for sure,” he said. The plant is phasing out its production of Diazinon this year, after Ciba reached an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to remove the pesticide from the consumer market. Diazinon has for decades been one of the most commonly used home and garden pesticides, and has been included in everything from inside bug sprays to lawn pest products. But EPA regulators found evidence that the product was being overused, and that there were surprisingly — and sometimes dangerously — high residues in homes and yards. Diazinon is a nerve poison, and has been shown to cause skeletal deformities and other developmental abnormalities in test animals. It is also highly toxic to fish and birds. Tew said the company was still investigating the cause of the release. “This vessel was being heated with Diazinon in it. That’s all I know,” he said. “There was 87 percent Diazi non in there. The rest was soybean oil.” A strong sulfur smell is sometimes associated with the release of the dangerously toxic chemical hydrogen sulfide, but Tew said that the company regularly monitors for that chemical, and the monitors did not detect it. “We notified the authorities immediately,” Tew said. “There was no reportable spill, no fire, no explosion. I smelled it driving through McIntosh at 6:30 a.m. … The smell was gone by 9 or 10 o’clock.” Floyd Williams, with the Washington County Emergency Management Agency, said he received a call from Ciba at about 1 a.m. Monday. “They were making the initial notification and kept me informed throughout,” he said. 

Pig farm workers felled by fumes
WebPosted Jun 20 2003 03:19 PM EDT
MONCTON — A 36-year old man is in Moncton hospital after falling into a pit of pig poop at the Metz factory- farm in Ste. Marie de Kent. Two people were working around a sewage lagoon yesterday when some pigs fell in. When one of the workers tried to retrieve them, he slipped into the pit and was overcome by fumes. The second worker went to help. She slipped in, too, but managed to free herself and go for help. The Province’s Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission is investigating the accident. David Greason, vice-president of prevention for the WHSCC, says “The officer will look into the situation, determine the cause of the injury and we will examine whether there was any legislation or regulation violation. We may go to prosecution if we see that violation took place.” Greason says the investigation will take a week to 10 days. Both workers were taken to hospital. One of them has been released and the other is improving.

Chemical accident in Brooklyn Park sends one person to hospital Watch video 
Updated: 06-17-2003 02:48:19 PM
BROOKLYN PARK – A chemical accident at a medical manufacturing business sent one person to the hospital. A worker at Medsource Technologies was pouring nittric acid into a metal container. The acid apparently reacted with the container, creating a noxious vapor cloud. Fire officials evacuated the building as a precaution, emptied the container, helped clean up the scene and made sure the air was safe before permitting workers back into the building. The worker was taken to North Memorial Medical Center with respiratory problems. His condition is not known. The fire department also notified two nearby schools and some residences in the area about the chemical spill. However, no evacuations were ordered in these areas. 

Emergency services called to chemical spill 
WEDNESDAY, 18 JUNE 2003 By JOANNA HARVEY
A 16-year-boy was taken to Timaru Hospital after a chemical spill at the Evans Atlas Flour Mill building in Station Street triggered a major emergency services call out on Tuesday. Four fire engines, including one from Temuka , Timaru District Council health and safety officers, police and ambulance officers and Crown Public Health staff were called to the scene after a container of grain fumigate was discovered leaking in the building after 2.30pm. The building was cordoned off for two and a half hours while officers cleared the scene. An employee from Jacks All Trades Handyman Services, which had recently bought the building, was clearing out the building’s ground floor along with two other workers when he discovered the container. It had apparently been knocked over accidentally. Jacks All Trades owner John Rodgers said the national poisons unit hotline was then alerted. The hotline staff told the employee to go back and check what the container was. “It was when he came back that he felt all dizzy.” The boy was taken to hospital suffering from inhalation and was reported to be in a moderate condition. He was still being assessed in the Timaru Hospital last night. Timaru District Senior Station Officer Lex Ferguson said three officers in chemical protection suits entered the building for about 20 minutes to retrieve the container. Mr Ferguson said he believed the offending item was a one litre bottle of grain fumigant which had deteriorated Mr Ferguson said the fire service would be contacting Occupational Safety and Health and the Timaru District Council to deal with its disposal.

Chlorine in air forces evacuation
By CHRIS GREEN Rockford Register Star
LOVES PARK — Chlorine venting from a city well house prompted about a half-dozen residents in the Oakcrest subdivision to be evacuated Tuesday morning. The poisonous gas was released from well house No. 3 at Coach Lite and Torch Lite trails. No one was injured. Loves Park Water Superintendent Russ Bainter said equipment that regulates the flow of chlorine gas into the water supply malfunctioned. Somehow, gas pressure built up. Instead of releasing too much of the gas into the water supply, the system is designed to ventilate excess gas out of the well house. “It was assumed there was a leak inside the room, but there wasn’t,” Bainter said. “A regulator on one of the chlorine tanks malfunctioned, and it vented small amounts of chlorine, which is what it is supposed to do. It was really a false alarm.” Loves Park has had a history of chlorine leaks at city wells, including four between 1997 and 2000. On Tuesday, a few residents on the west side of Coach Lite Trail and north of the well house were told to leave heir homes as a precaution. “It was kind of like opening a bottle of bleach. That’s about all I was getting out of it,” said Ottie Rowe, who lives next to the well house and was working outside when he noticed the smell. Four firefighters with the Rockford Fire Department Haz-Mat team donned protective blue suits, rubber boots, four pairs of gloves and oxygen tanks. Two firefighters entered the well house, shut off the valves on the tanks, and were hosed down from head to toe before removing their suits. Residents were allowed to return shortly after 11 a.m. The Fire Department cleared the scene at 11:50 a.m. The year-old tank regulators were purchased from Ecological Systems Inc. in Rockford. When one 150-pound chlorine tank empties, the system is designed to switch over to another 150-pound tank, said Ecological Systems co-owner Dave Foor. The system switchover occurred overnight. The regulator for the second tank may have malfunctioned, causing the system to send chlorine out of the well house. On Tuesday, the regulator on the second valve was removed and was being inspected by Ecological Systems. From 1990 to 2000, Loves Park spent $370,000 on repairs and upgrades of Well No. 1 and the filter plant. Since the Water Department was formed in the mid-1950s, Loves Park has drilled five wells. The oldest ones, Nos. 1 and 2, serve the western corridor and lower, older elevations of the city, respectively. Wells Nos. 3 and 4 were drilled in the 1970s and serve the middle corridor of the city. Well No. 5 opened in 1997 off Harlem Road, east of Interstate 90. In 1999, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency put Well No. 2 on standby status because of the presence of volatile organic contaminants, most likely coming from a capped landfill near the well. The well was removed in 2001. That same year, the city was recognized for efforts to protect groundwater. Wells No. 3 and 4 are on Windsor Road near Applewood Lane. They serve the middle corridor of the city, covering homes and businesses roughly between Alpine and McFarland roads. 

NID mishap repair tab estimated at $671,000
Dave Moller
Flume and a canal breaks that caused the Bear River to run brown last year have Nevada Irrigation District officials scrambling under deadline to fix the water delivery channels. District board members will be asked in closed session today for a budget increase of $671,000 to fix the Chicago Park flume. It overflowed in February 2002, causing about 2,000 pickup-truck loads of earth to plunge into the Bear River, threatening wildlife. The second break was in the concrete Combie Canal – which broke in July last year – sending thousands of gallons of irrigation water down the bank into the river. The Chicago Park flume overflowed after a PG&E worker forgot to close a gate that was releasing water into it from the Dutch Flat Afterbay on the Nevada-Placer county line. When the state perceived inaction, criminal charges were filed against PG&E and the district. In a May court appearance, state environmental prosecutor Vivian Murai, district lawyer Michael Sexton and PG&E attorney John Ward told Nevada County Judge ohn Darlington they were working on an agreed fine and settlement of the case. Darlington told them to return June 30. Facing that deadline, district official Les Nicholson told district water and hydroelectric committee members John Drew and Paul Williams on Tuesday he needed the $671,000 “so I can complete the work.” The Combie Canal project failed to get a bid from four contractors who were contacted about it, according to Terry Mayfield, district water operations manager. “This is not an easy job, and our time frame is condensed,” Mayfield said. Downstream property owner Margaret Mason would like the work completed by its July 11 anniversary date and does not want heavy equipment brought in to do it, fearing more environmental damage. Mayfield said bidders balked at that, saying hand work would cut their profits. The canal was stabilized last year when $160,000 worth of patchwork was done to the 8,000-foot-long structure. According to Bill Schell, assistant district engineer, the focus is now on a 500-foot section where the canal failed. The ground fill the canal rests on is now being studied to determine what might be needed for further stabilization. “I think if we’re lucky we can stabilize and refurbish it for $100,000,” Schell said. Replacing the entire section would cost about $700,000. 

Wrong mix of chemicals starts fire at Surtec Inc. 
June 11, 2003 By Frank Wiget / Post-Tribune staff writer 
WASHINGTON TWP. — An employee of Surtec Inc., which makes chemicals used in the cosmetic and ink industries, mixed the wrong chemicals while cleaning plastic tanks, the company owner said. The result: The employee suffered a hand burn and Valparaiso firefighters used foam and water to put out a chemical fire Tuesday morning. Surtec, located at 5907 Murvihill Road, last had a problem Aug 1, 1997, when fumes smelled like dead fish, owner Art Schmidt recalled Tuesday, hours after the 9:20 a.m. scare that brought firefighters to the plant that employs 14 people. Schmidt said the chemical engineer who suffered a hand burn will be back at work today. He was treated at Porter Memorial Hospital and released. The wrong batch of chemicals was mixed as plastic tanks were being cleaned, Schmidt said. The mix of chemicals ignited methylhydrogen silicone, used in the manufacture of women’s face creams, Schmidt said. Valparaiso Fire Chief Thomas Steindler said Valparaiso provided mutual aid to the Washington Township Fire Department using about 15 gallons of foam and 500 to 800 gallons of water on the chemical fire. Neither Steindler nor Schmidt identified the employee who suffered a burn to his hand. Schmidt said he is a chemical engineer and has been employed at the 9-year-old plant about two years. Steindler estimated damage at $3,500. As the temperature rose, the methylhydrogen silicone created a vapor, which ignited, Steindler said. In 1997, one person also was treated at the hospital. Witnesses said the man was overcome by fumes. Then, about 30 gallons of a sticky maple syrup-like residue spilled along the floor in front of a mixing tank. This time, a combination of plastic tanks being cleaned and a reaction of different chemicals caused the problem, Schmidt said. 

Gas leaks from chemical factory, 28 women hospitalised
CHENNAI: AT least 28 women, including a pregnant woman, working in a garment export company in Ambattur Industrial Estate were affected by a ‘harmful gas’ which allegedly leaked from a nearby chemical company Sunday. The condition of the victims who were rushed to a nearby hospital is said to be stable. The women who entered the premises of Bombay Fashions, a garment export company at the Industrial Estate, for their overtime duty about 8.30 a.m. developed nausea and some of them fell unconscious unable to withstand a ‘strong chemical stench’ which allegedly emanated from the nearby Wilson Aeromatics and Chemicals company. According to the representatives of Bombay Fashions, over 180 women workers entered the company and began work early on Sunday. However, the women who were working at the first floor of the company and some others who were at the canteen suddenly developed suffocation, leading to nausea and unconsciousness. When fire service personnel and a police official from the Industrial Estate police station rushed to the company, the women workers were seen rushing out of the company into the roads. ‘‘While a few of the workers either fell unconscious or were seen vomiting on the road, some had swooned on the first floor and inside the toilet on the ground floor,’’ a representative of the garment export company said. In about half an hour, most of the workers were evacuated and the affected women were rushed to the nearby Ambattur Rotary Hospital. The patients were supplied with oxygen masks. One of the patients was rushed to a private hospital for specialised treatment. Nineteen-year-old Bhuvana was among five of the severely affected patients who had regained consciousness after preliminary treatment. She however, swooned again within the hospital premises a couple of hours later. Kalaivani, an eight-month pregnant woman belonging to Thiruninravur, told this website’s newspaper that after experiencing suffocation and fainting at her workplace, she regained consciousness on the hospital bed. ‘‘I still feel giddy, but it’s not very bad now. Fortunately, the doctors say the baby may not be affected,’’ she said. The garment company representatives said that the workers often complained about the gas emanating from the nearby company and though they had informed the company representatives, no action had been taken. ‘‘We have filed a police complaint against Wilson Aeromatics and Chemicals and soon we will be lodging complaints with the Pollution Control Board and related agencies,’’ company representatives said. Ambattur Estate police sources said that they had summoned the top representatives of the chemical company and the cause for the leak was said to be the lack of coolant supply to the boiler which contained chemicals. The police said that the chemical company representatives produced ‘authentic Pollution Control certificates’. However, investigations were on, the police added. The representatives of the chemical company could not be contacted and the company’s security officials said they did not hve contact numbers of any official of the company. 

UPDATE EPA orders Motiva clean up and review
By JEFF MONTGOMERY Staff reporter 05/29/2003
Citing imminent safety and pollution threats, the Environmental Protection Agency late Wednesday ordered Motiva Enterprises to clean up contamination from a May 4 acid spill and conduct a sweeping review of its sulfuric-acid handling and storage practices. The EPA said it was invoking a seldom-used authority to require immediate action by the refinery. “We don’t issue a lot of unilateral orders,” EPA spokesman David Sternberg said. “Obviously, that would require a serious situation.” Motiva officials declined to comment because they had not yet received a copy of the document. EPA Regional Administrator Donald S. Welsh said in a prepared statement that the order “was necessary to address a potentially dangerous situation in the most timely manner.” The order Wednesday marked the third federal intervention at Motiva for pollution and tank-safety problems since 2000. The Delaware City refinery, which processes about 175,000 barrels of oil daily, is a joint venture of Royal Dutch Shell and the national oil company of Saudi Arabia. The EPA’s order said Motiva has reported 82 hazardous-substance releases since July 17, 2001, when a different sulfuric acid storage tank exploded and burned. That accident killed one worker, injured eight others, polluted surrounding soils and water and temporarily crippled the refinery. The accident was later attributed to neglected maintenance and safety problems and contaminated acid. Details included in the order suggested that an acid spill of several thousand gallons on May 4 was more serious than Motiva or state and federal regulators had previously reported. Subsequent investigations found “a threat to public health” and “an imminent and substantial endangerment” to the environment, according to the order. During the accident, acid and other chemicals burst open the roof of a storage tank, forcing workers to flee the area, the EPA said in its order. The rushing chemicals later reacted with liquids in refinery sewer lines, blowing two manhole covers open, spewing corrosive chemical on surrounding equipment and soils, and releasing toxic chemicals into the air. A preliminary investigation, the EPA order said, found that the storage tank roof burst open in several places because of hydrocarbon contamination in a system that was intended for nearly pure sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid is the most widely-used industrial chemical in the world. Refineries use the chemical as a catalyst to make ingredients for gasoline. Motiva uses as much as 300 tons of acid daily during peak operations, DNREC officials have reported. Motiva and the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control reported shortly after the accident that the spill was confined to the refinery and mostly captured by wastewater treatment systems. Delays in notifying the public about the accident later prompted DNREC to issue an order requiring plants to publicly disclose chemical releases of any size. DNREC is investigating the May 4 accident separately and is negotiating with the refinery on a consent agreement that will require mandatory improvements in plant maintenance and safety programs. DNREC Secretary John A. Hughes said he was aware of the federal order and the seriousness of the EPA’s concerns. “That’s their job. They’ve done it. We’re supportive of it and agree with what they’re doing,” Hughes said. 

Chemical Spill Causes Minor Injuries; Orlando Businesses Evacuates After Acid, Base Mix
Story by WESH.com 
Firefighters evacuated a business in Orlando Thursday after noxious fumes resulted when an employee mixed two common chemicals. Firefighters said workers at Custom Linen Solutions at 5824 Precision Drive in Orlando inadvertently mixed an acid with a base that could be dangerous, WESH NewsChannel 2 reported. As a precaution, four employees were transported to Sand Lake Hospital. Some who chose not to go to the hospital also had trouble breathing. Two dozen employees were evacuated from the building. The injuries are not critical. Authorities said crews entered the building to assess the extent of the trouble after workers were evacuated. 

Chemical reaction affects McCalla plant
Vivi Abrams
A hazardous materials team was sent to Jefferson Metropolitan Parkway in McCalla Tuesday morning after a worker accidentally mixed chlorine with hydrochloric acid, said Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Randy Christian. The chemical reaction caused fumes that affected some employees working at Plastic Pak Packaging in the industrial corridor off of Old Tuscaloosa Highway. No one was seriously hurt. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, Hoover Fire Department and McCalla Fire Department responded to the accident, evacuated about 35 employees and treated those who were hurt on the scene, Christian said. Two employees were taken to an area hospital, treated and released. 

Anger at chemical leak at gym 
By Vicky Wilks
A WORKER was taken to hospital after a chemical spillage in a fitness centre -the second in six months. The engineer was hospitalised after a chemical called sodium hypochlorite leaked into the pool plant and an office at Holmes Place gym, Ockley Road, Streatham. An angry gym user, who did not want to be identified, told The Post there was no alarm to flag up the spillage and the gym was not evacuated until the fire brigade arrived. A spokeswoman for Holmes Place said a staff member called the fire brigade and insisted the building was evacuated before crews arrived. She acknowledged there was no alarm to warn people of the spillage but said one is due to be installed. The engineer remained in hospital for nearly 10 hours after the spillage which started at 11.15am on Thursday, May 15. Last November, four people were taken to hospital with chest pains after a chemical leak in the gym’s plant room. After that spillage, a Holmes Place spokeswoman told The Post an alarm would be placed on equipment to prevent a repeat occurrence. The recent spillage meant the pool and treatment rooms of the gym were closed between May 15 and last Thursday (May 23).

UPDATE Retraining order for chemical leak firm
Source: Northern Echo 2003-05-23 
A CHEMICAL firm must retrain its staff following the escape of a toxic chemical into the River Tees. The Environment Agency has ordered DuPont, Wilton, east Cleveland, to clean up its act and review procedures, following a month-long investigation into the spill of 700kg of titanium dioxide from the polymer plant into the river. The pigment, used in the manufacture of nylon, escaped when a valve on a mixing container was left open while the substance was being transferred between tanks, causing it to leak. A second valve on the sump, intended to contain such leaks, was also left open and the titanium dioxide entered the site drainage system. From there, it ran into the Tees. The agency said the environmental impact of the leak had been assessed as insignificant and no remedial work was necessary. However, the Environment Agency still treats incidents of this nature very seriously. As a result, an enforcement notice has been served on Dupont which requires the company to carry out a review of its containment procedures and to retrain all relevant staff, following the results of the review. Dupont must comply by December 31. A Dupont spokesman said the company had received an enforcement notice and would comply totally with the requirements. Howard Stuttard, regulatory support team leader, said: “Even the best-run sites must have adequate procedures in place to prevent and contain leaks to make sure that incidents of this type do not occur. There is a need to ensure that protective systems are set up to work when called upon.” 

Vapors from IBM spill move eastward; Southwest spread also detected
BY TOM WILBER Press & Sun-Bulletin 
ENDICOTT — Hazardous fumes from a chemical spill beneath downtown are moving east to streets in the Town of Union and scientists are hard-pressed to figure out how and why. Traces of vapors have been found in several dozen properties east of the village, between Jackson Avenue and Louisiana Avenue in the town. They are included in the most recent tally of 430 structures requiring special ventilation systems, according to records from the Department of Environmental Conservation. Also, researchers are testing 77 additional properties several blocks southwest of the IBM campus on North Street in the village, an area thought to be outside the boundaries of the spill. It includes the vicinity of North Street’s intersections with Lincoln, Cleveland, Harrison and Filmore avenues. Results are expected next month. The spill has become a priority at the Region Seven DEC headquarters in Syracuse, which includes a nine-county area, said Mary Jane Peachey, a regional engineer. “The first order of business is finding out, ‘where is it?,'” she said. “Is it in the homes? That is taking up a great deal of our day, every day.” For decades, the spill was thought to be contained to the underground nether reaches of a 55-acre section of the village, away from people and pets. Last year, researchers began taking a closer look at the way the chemicals are migrating after data from similar spills in other parts of the country suggested the problem might be more serious. Since then, dangerous fumes from industrial solvents have been found wafting into homes, businesses and other unexpected places outside the boundaries of the actual spill. Scientists, drilling more test wells in new areas, are redefining the scope and impact of the spill almost weekly as they analyze new data. The fumes are from a class of industrial solvents known as volatile organic compounds, which can cause cancer and other illnesses in people exposed to enough of them. So far, levels found in buildings would be unlikely to pose acute health risks, according to Robert Denz, an official with the Broome County Department of Health. Questions remain about effects from long-term exposure. Tracking the environmental disaster has become more complicated as researchers learn the chemicals — once thought to be confined to ground water — are evaporating and moving unpredictably through what they call “preferential pathways.” “It requires very close, particular and intense attention,” the DEC’s Peachey said. “The pattern and behavior the vapors take may not be totally predictable. We will need to determine what the patterns are, so we can further address the problem.” The chemicals seek the path of least resistance, said Mario Michael Nirchi, a retired DEC engineer retained by the village to help with the problem. That path might include sewer and utility lines, conduits, drainages, vaults and any underground infrastructure leading to buildings. One theory, yet to be proven, is vapors may be following an IBM storm sewer that travels east several blocks along North Street before turning south toward the river, he said. The type of soil, and the construction and design of buildings in the area, also influence the chemicals’ movement. IBM Corp. has budgeted at least $60 million for the clean up, which could last for decades. Residents who have gathered at public information meetings by the hundreds have expressed views about the spill ranging from from concern to anger to confidence. “I have all the faith in the world that they will take care of it,” said Tom Bushnell, a resident of Maryland Avenue in the Town of Union, who retired from IBM in 1992 after 36 years. He was recently notified that he should make an appointment to have his ventilation system installed. “When I worked there, they were on top of everything,” he said. “That’s my take on the company.” 

Chloroform spill soaks into warehouse carpet 
By Chris Morris
Three people were taken to hospital after a potentially dangerous chemical spill at a Dunedin warehouse yesterday afternoon. bout 1.5 litres of chloroform was spilt on carpeted floor at Zuellig Pharma Ltd, a medical supplies company in Kaikorai Valley Rd, near the corner of Glenelg St, about 3.15pm. Deputy Chief Fire Officer Trevor Tilyard, of Dunedin, said it was unclear how the spill occurred but chloroform was a potentially dangerous chemical because of its volatility. National Poisons Centre medical toxicologist Dr Michael Beasley said exposure could cause vomiting, dizziness and, if prolonged, kidney and liver damage. Previously used as an anaesthetic agent, its most common use these days was as a solvent. Zuellig Pharma staff declined to comment on the spill. Fire appliances from Roslyn and Lookout Point and a fire command unit from Dunedin Central attended the scene, along with police and St John ambulance personnel. Firefighters wearing protective suits cut out the affected carpet and placed it in a chemical removal drum for disposal. A St John spokeswoman said the three workers had minor injuries and were undergoing “precautionary checks” at Dunedin Hospital. 

UPDATE Company that leaked pungent chemical in village shuts factory
May 20, 2003, 11:59 AM EDT
HOLLEY, N.Y. — A chemical company has shut down operations in this village 16 months after its factory leaked a pungent chemical that forced an evacuation and exposed residents to a variety of health ailments. Diaz Chemical Co. ceased production last Wednesday and expects to spend the next two months decommissioning the plant, The Daily News of Batavia reported. “We’re done,” a company vice president, Clifton Jenney, said in court Monday. The shutdown came a day before the federal Environmental Protection Agency gave Diaz Chemical a deadline to install additional safety equipment. The company, which has operated since 1974 in this village of 2,000 residents 20 miles west of Rochester, said it cannot afford the equipment. Acting state Supreme Court Judge James Punch said he wants an environmental monitor to keep a watch on the plant while it’s being mothballed. The factory was declared an inactive hazardous waste site in 1992. If Diaz Chemical, as it maintains, cannot pay for the monitor, then New York state should do so and then seek reimbursement from the company, the judge said. Judging from its financial records, the company hasn’t paid many of its bills, he added. But the state attorney general office’s said the records haven’t been audited. “We hear over and over again that they have no money,” assistant state Attorney General Linda White said. “But there has been no evidence they have no money.” The judge ordered an inventory of all chemicals at the plant within two weeks. Several of the 16 or more families displaced by the spill on Jan. 5, 2002, did not return to their homes, citing health worries. A state Health Department study determined the chemical, used in new types of drugs, would most likely not cause long-term health problems. Called 2-chloro-6-fluorophenol, the chemical is not considered a poison but hasn’t been studied thoroughly by industry because it is a relatively new material, the company said. About 75 gallons of the chemical gushed into the air after pressure built up in a vessel and a release valve blew. Residents who were exposed said they suffered nausea, breathing difficulties, skin burns, eye and skin irritation and loss of appetite.

About 500 Gallons of Gas Spills at Plant
CLAYCOMO, Mo. — Enough gasoline to fill about 25 cars spilled on the floors of Ford’s Claycomo plant Monday morning. It contributed to a strong smell in the air but no fire. It happened at about 8:30 a.m. when workers said a float in a gasoline holding tank malfunctioned, spilling close to 500 gallons of gas all over the floor. The Fire Department and hazardous materials crews were called in to help with the cleanup. That included lots of foam to help soak up the gas. No one was hurt. It was a situation local union workers said they were trained to deal with. “We train people for that. (The) emergency response team, when anything like that happens, any kind of emergency happens, they’re right on it,” said Mike Perry, UAW Local 249 president. Production was not affected by the accident. 

UPDATE Anhydrous Victim Dies
(AP) – A 73-year-old Minot man has died from injuries suffered from an anhydrous ammonia spill in Norwich last month. Randall Kjelbertson died Wednesday in a Minot hospital. McHenry County Deputy Sheriff John Cameron says the cause of the April 21st spill is still under investigation. Cameron and McHenry County Sheriff Marvin Sola were among the five people exposed to the fumes and hospitalized. About 30 residents of the small town east of Minot were forced to leave their homes for several hours after the spill. Officials say the spill happened as anhydrous ammonia was being transferred from a large tank to smaller tanks at the town’s grain elevator. Officials say 27-year-old elevator worker Shawn Brown was seriously injured in the spill, and was hospitalized for five days. 

Acid leaks at Shell refinery
May 16, 2003
EMERGENCY crews have been called to an acid leak at Shell’s Corio fuel refinery, south-west of Melbourne. Country Fire Authority (CFA) spokesman Peter Philp described the leak of hydrofluoric acid as minor. “There are one, possibly two sources for the leak, which is contained,” he said. The acid was being pumped into a containment vat by two CFA crews and plant staff, he said. 

No injuries reported in leak 
SVN STAFF 
DIXON — An ammonia leak at Dean Specialty Foods Group, 820 Palmyra St., Dixon, caused the evacuation of the plant about 12:40 p.m. Wednesday. Dixon City and Rural fire departments responded to the scene and remained for just over an hour. City Fire Chief Dean Rhodes said ammonia was leaking from a relief valve of a rooftop cooling unit. Rhodes said that upon arrival, fire crews found plant refrigeration crews working to control the leak through valve closures and lowering pressure on the cooling unit, which had overheated. Rhodes said the rooftop unit’s relief valve apparently froze open. The fire departments, in cooperation with Dean’s refrigeration people, closed the valve. The necessary state and federal officials also were notified of the leak. The leak occurred a short time before the start of an internal drill at KSB Hospital, leading some to wonder if the first report was part of that drill. Firefighters allowed some of the plant personnel to stay at the Dixon Rural station next door to Dean’s until the valve was closed. No one was treated for injuries related to the incident.

Ammonia Leak Forces Evacuations Near OIA
May 15, 2003 Story by wftv.com 
ORLANDO, Fla. — An ammonia leak near Orlando International Airport sent two firefighters to the hospital. The leak at a produce distribution center also forced evacuations on airport grounds. The leak has been capped off and that’s a good thing. Earlier the fumes were so strong it was hard for those nearby to even keep their eyes open. Emergency crews left there late Thursday afternoon after spending a good part of the day checking things out. Orlando police formed a border as HAZMAT teams hurriedly set up near the warehouse on Jetport Drive. Seeping from a large refrigeration system inside the building occupied by Sunny Ridge Farms was the staggering smell of ammonia. A contractor was working on the refrigeration system that keeps a large room in the warehouse cool when a valve was damaged. That interrupted business at the facility where they distribute produce and another warehouse next door. Between the two, about 20 workers were ordered outside and kept at a safe distance to breathe. The distribution center has an automatic ventilation system pushing the ammonia outside. It was seeping from a cap. HAZMAT workers got suited up in protective gear. Still, two firefighters working for the airport got hurt. “We’ve had two firefighters transported to ORMC and two employees from SRF transported as well. We don’t know the extent of their injuries,” says Louis Olivero, GOAA. An employee also suffered minor complications from breathing ammonia. But his injuries and the firefighters weren’t serious. It did cause some problems on Tradeport, but it did not delay any flights at the airport. “At this time, airport operations have not been effected. The only street affected has been Centerport, and Tradeport is still open. Business continues at the airport as well,” says Olivero. We’re told the firefighters and the employee have been treated and released. Friday, business there continues. 

Chemical Plant Worker Burned by Acid
(Indianapolis – AP) — An Indianapolis chemical plant worker is hospitalized with severe burns after an accident involving sulfuric acid. An employee of the GAC chemical plant was working outside at a rail car overnight prepping the car for the next day’s work. When she turned a release valve, she was burned with sulfuric acid. She ran into the building and got in the decontamination shower, then called for help. Because of the spill, hazardous materials crews from the Indianapolis Fire Department were called to the scene. The spill was contained within an hour. The employee was taken to the burn unit at Wishard Hospital with severe burns to 65 to 75 percent of her upper torso. The cause of the accident isn’t known as of yet. 

Acid spill empties plant 
By Lara Bricker
EXETER – A hydrofluoric acid spill early Tuesday morning at the Osram Sylvania manufacturing plant required the plant to be evacuated while hazardous materials crews worked to decontaminate the area. No one was injured by the leaking acid, which wafted through the building in a cloud-like formation. The two employees who were working in the area where the leak occurred were sent to Exeter Hospital as a precautionary measure, Exeter Fire Chief Brian Comeau said. They were treated and released almost immediately. Those two employees were among 15 who were working the Portsmouth Avenue facility when the leak was spotted at 3:40 a.m. They were evacuating themselves when the Exeter Fire Department arrived. The Exeter plant makes the quartz tubing that is used in indoor and outdoor lighting. Susan Huppertz, the plant manager, said the acid is used in a cleaning process during the quartz manufacturing procedure. “We train for this every year,” Hupperz said. “So we have qualified people to deal with situations like tis if they do arise.” The initial call to the fire department was for a possible gas leak at the facility. When firefighters Don Matheson and Jason Greene entered the building, they discovered the leaking acid. The acid was floating in a large vapor cloud and had spread from the room where the leak occurred. As a result, the Seacoast Technical Assistance Response Team-or hazardous materials team-was activated. The team consists of firefighters from across the Seacoast who have been specially trained in responding to situations with hazardous materials. Matheson and Greene’s fire gear was placed in yellow hazardous materials bags after they came in contact with the spill, so that it could be washed. The hazardous materials team assembled in the parking lot outside the building. In one area, firefighters prepared to suit up in Level A protective suits to go inside the building. Other START team members wore Level B suits in the decontamination area, where they hosed down those who had gone inside the building. The hazmat team members entered the building two at a time, while another pair stood prepared to relieve them, Comeau explained. The first priority was to secure the leaking pipe and stop the spread of the dangerous acid. Comeau classified the amount of acid that actually escaped from the pipe as a “minor spill.” “It’s just the nature of the product that requires this level of protection,” he said of the protective suits and large response. Matheson, who is a START team leader and hazmat instructor, explained that the solution of hydrofluoric acid used in the plant is 70 percent aqueous. The acid attacks calcium and will eat through a person’s skin to get to the calcium in their bones, he explained. “It’s fairly nasty,” Matheson said, adding the Osram plant has immediate first aid in place in the building in case the acid comes in contact with anyone. Lime was used to neutralize an acid that had leaked onto the floor. Once the pipe and the acid on the floor was taken care of, the hazmat team had to monitor the amount of acid in the air. They used litmus paper to test the air for traces of acid. The teams of two rotated out of the building after about 30 minutes, Comeau explained. After they were out of their protective suits, they were given a medical evaluation. No one was allowed inside the plant while the hazmat team was at work. Employees parked along the long driveway off Portsmouth Avenue – which leads to the plant – as the parking lot was cordoned off and filled with fire apparatus.

Chemical fumes at Hillcrest send 19 to BMC’s ER
By Jack Dew Berkshire Eagle Staff
PITTSFIELD — Hillcrest Hospital was shut down yesterday and 19 people were taken to the emergency room after a chemical spill sent fumes through both wings of the facility. At about 8:30 a.m., a worker with Clinomics Biosciences, a laboratory company that leases space in the old wing of Hillcrest, spilled xylene, a toxic chemical found in paint, gasoline and paint thinners, hospital and public safety officials said. The Fire Department responded and summoned its hazardous materials response team when a few of the employees who had been cleaning the spilt liquid began to report symptoms from the xylene fumes. When more of the Hillcrest workers began complaining of nausea and dizziness, the entire facility was evacuated on the hospital’s orders, including 25 residents of the McGee Unit, an inpatient substance-abuse treatment clinic. The 19 people affected by the fumes were treated in Berkshire Medical Center’s emergency room, and most were discharged by 1 p.m. Six were admitted to BMC for observation, and two of those were in the intensive care ward yesterday afternoon. Emergency personnel said one victim had suffered a seizure while at Hillcrest. The seizure was believed to have been only indirectly caused by the chemical spill. According to public safety officials, the man, whose name was not released, had suffered a head injury earlier this week. When he helped clean up the spill, the direct exposure to the fumes likely compounded his symptoms and provoked the seizure. Dizziness, headaches Dr. Ronald Hayden, director of BMC’s emergency department, said most of the patients arriving from Hillcrest complained of dizziness, lightheadedness and headaches. Some also complained of chest pains and difficulty breathing. “Of the people we saw, I would say two or three of them were classified as moderate to severe, the rest were pretty mild to moderate,” Hayden said. “Many went home and some were admitted to medical floors just to watch for respiratory symptoms. The two who [showed the severest symptoms] were put in the intensive care unit to be monitored and watched.” Hayden said none of the patients’ symptoms were considered life-threatening. Hillcrest remained closed yesterday while the Fire Department vented fumes and hospital personnel cleaned up any remnants of the chemical. Patients seeking treatment at the campus’ walk-in clinic were referred to BMC’s emergency room, where extra staff had been brought in to cope with the higher demand. People making routine visits to their doctors at Hillcrest were encouraged to reschedule their appointments when the facility reopens today. McGee patients bused With both wings of the hospital emptied, the patients from the McGee Unit waited in an outbuilding that houses Hillcrest’s heating system for a bus to take them to BMC, where they were to spend the night. “We were just told to evacuate the building, and we only knew that it was something about some dangerous gas in the air,” said Linda Miller, the program director’s assistant at the McGee Unit. “Everybody has handled it very well. I’m really proud of them.” Rob Leary, left, and Richard Jacob of the Pittsfield Fire Department’s hazardous materials team look at a monitor after taking air samples at Hillcrest Hospital yesterday. The hospital, part of Berkshire Medical Center, was evacuated because of a xylene spill. Don, a McGee counselor who declined to give his last name, said none of the patients were medically compromised, “but moving some of them around in wheelchairs and getting them out is tough. But we did it, and we did it in good time. I think we responded faster to this then we did in the drill.” Michael Leary, a spokesman for Berkshire Health Systems, which operates both Hillcrest and BMC, said the xylene spill was relatively small, believed to have been only eight or 10 ounces of liquid. A call to Clinomics Biosciences’ Maryland headquarters was not returned yesterday. According to information from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s Web site, exposure to xylene can cause headaches, lack of muscle coordination, dizziness, confusion and changes in one’s sense of balance. It can also lead to irritation of the ears, eyes, nose and throat and can cause breathing problems. Exposure to very high levels can lead to unconsciousness and death. The Fire Department set up fans to move air through the affected portion of the building, and acting Deputy Chief Ken Spaniol, the incident commander during yesterday’s spill, said the hazardous materials response team tested the air quality throughout the hospital and found it to be clean. Spaniol said most of the chemical was already mopped up when firefighters arrived, but the odor from the chemical lingered. “It was a minor spill, and then people started getting sick. Most of the people who did the cleanup from the original spill were getting dizzy.” Even as workers dealt with the xylene, patients were undergoing outpatient surgery in Hillcrest’s operating rooms, which are housed in a separate wing. According to hospital officials, the procedures were completed before the patients and medical personnel were evacuated. None were ever in harm’s way, Leary said. “It happened just the way our drills said it would happen, and the response was exactly the way we envisioned it would happen,” he said. Asked if the response was overly cautious considering the small amount of chemical and the slight risk of serious harm to people in other parts of the hospital, Leary said: “Given what we live with and work with today, whenever there is a spill it is appropriate that the authorities take as much precaution with it as possible.”

Evacuation around Jersey City Chemical Plant
Jersey City-WABC, May 12, 2003
In Jersey City, police are evacuating the area around a warehouse because of some sort of hazmat situation. Eyewitness News’ Shannon Sohn has more from Newscopter Seven. This is at 173 Sussex Street. Fire department officials got word of a fire at Hart Chemical plant. Normally the fire scenes we show you involve a lot of flames, but none are to be seen here. The reason for that is the fire department is not anxious to go inside until they find out exactly what’s happening. They’re confirming for us that some sort of uncontrolled chemical reaction did happen inside but they’re not sure what kind of chemical is involved. Apparently this plant produces multiple kinds of chemicals. Officials have evacuated the building and the area around it. Grand Avenue, nearby the plant, has been shut down to all traffic. 

Chemical spill closes part of Northway
5/13/2003 7:52 AM By: Capital News 9 web staff
Hazmat crews are on the scene of an early morning accident in northern New York. Elizabethtown and Westport, in Essex County are in a state of emergency due to a chemical spill. Police are concerned the chemical Methylene Chlorine may be running into the Black River. Both lanes of the Northway between Exit 30 and 31 are closed. Elizabethtown is about 25 miles east of Lake Placid. Capital News 9 will bring you more information as details become available. 

Smoke in soap factory after a mixing error; no peril seen 
Tuesday, May 13, 2003 By Michaelangelo Conte Journal staff writer 
A chemical chain reaction in a Jersey City soap factory brought firefighters to the scene when smoke filled the four-story building, firefighters said. Firefighters responded to Hart Chemical, on Sussex and Van Vorst streets, at 4:14 p.m. and found heavy smoke filling the entire 200-by 75-foot building, said Firefighter Andrew Johnson. An engineer for the company said the smoke was caused by a chemical that reacts violently when combined with water, Johnson said. In the soap-making process, the chemical is first mixed with another chemical, and once the two are combined, water can be added safely, Johnson said. The chain reaction occurred because the two chemicals where not mixed together properly before water was added to the mixture, Johnson said. The smoke wasn’t dangerous, Johnson said, and area residents weren’t evacuated and no injuries were reported. After firefighters ventilated the building, chemical company workers were allowed to return.

Hydrochloric acid leak contained to company premises 
The Midland Daily News 05/12/2003 
YPSILANTI (AP) – A hydrochloric acid leak at a plant forced nearby residents indoors for about five hours. The leak at Marsh Plating and Finishing Services began about 9 p.m. Sunday, said Capt. Dan Cain of the Ypsilanti Fire Department. A “shelter-in-place” alert was issued for nearby homes and businesses. People were asked to close all doors and windows, turn off ventilation and go to a non-basement room with the fewest doors and windows. “By going to the highest point, any chemicals that are generally heavier than air will sink,” David Halteman, assistant director of the Washtenaw County Emergency Management Division, told the Detroit Free Press. Hazardous materials crews were able to shut off a valve to the plant’s 8,000-gallon hydrochloric acid tank by about 1 a.m. Monday. The leak was contained to Marsh’s property about an hour later, and the advisory to residents was lifted. “When we release the building back to ownership, we determine that there’s no further threat to the public,” Cain said. “Now they have some work that they have to do in their own infrastructure.” A woman who answered the phone at Marsh Plating on Monday morning said the company had no immediate comment. Hydrochloric acid is a colorless gas with an unpleasant, acrid odor. It mostly is used in pickling or cleaning metal surfaces, such as iron, before galvanizing. Marsh Plating produces metallic coatings and offers pickling services. 

UPDATE Schools fined for chemical accident at school pool 
By Andrea Blum, The News-Herald
SOUTHGATE — An accident that put several employees and students at risk will end up costing the school district some money. The district recently was fined and issued eight violations for an incident that occurred in September at the Southgate Anderson High School swimming pool. Several custodians attempted to refill the pool’s chlorinator while members of the girls’ swim team practiced. A chemical cloud was produced after the employees mistakenly mixed muratic acid with chlorine. The employees, along with a student, were taken to the hospital for check-ups. “It created a really strong irritant and we’re really lucky that no one was hurt badly,” said Dan Menghini, buildings and grounds director. “We’d much rather have to spend money than have a child get hurt.” The district was fined $2,800 by the state Department of Consumer and Industry Services for a number of violations of the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Act. “One of the things we were cited for was having the employees go back in afterward,” he said. “We should have called the Fire Department immediately.” The violations ranged from the lack of an emergency response plan and proper training to personal protective equipment and ventilation control. “The employer did not have an emergency response plan or an emergency action plan to handle anticipated emergencies that could jeopardize employee health or safety,” the violation notice said. Several calls to CIS for comment on this story were not returned. Menghini said the problems have been corrected. “We implemented a new pool procedure with what to follow in case of an emergency,” he said. “The new guidelines are posted in the pool area. The bottom line is that if we were wrong, we will correct it.” The fine most likely will be cut in half because the district responded to the violations within 15 days of notification. School Supt. David Peden said the situation wasn’t handled as well as it could have been. “Our biggest mistake was not getting a hold of the Fire Department right away,” Peden said. “But we’ve learned from that.”

Firefighters Shut Down Toxic Ticking Time Bomb
PORTLAND – Columbia American Plating is shut down. Firefighters say they found a situation so dangerous they had but one choice: to close the business. Fire marshals say what they found was a toxic hazard when they inspected the business. Dozens of barrels filled with dangerous chemicals like sodium cyanide and hydrochloric acid were in various exposed conditions. “The exposure to moisture or the mixing can produce some very nasty products that could get out into the neighborhood,” says Bill Henle, Portland Fire Haz Mat Coordinator. Inspectors say the company has been storing toxic liquids and powders in corroded, rusted barrels. “In this situation the fire inspection revealed the building posed an imminent danger to human life,” said Chief Ed Wilson of the Portland Fire Bureau. “It’s roughly about an acre and you have hundreds of barrels with stuff that we know, stuff that we don’t know and the condition of some of them is unbelievable,” says Fire Marshal Jim Beery. “You know the steel itself is disintegrated around the barrel. They look like they’re melting.” Employees working next to the plant say noxious fumes next door have wafted their way on many occasions. “There have been fumes that have come into our warehouse facility and our warehouseman has been complained about the fumes and such,” says Stan Dirks. “So yeah, we’re glad to see it shut down.” KATU asked him what it smelled like? “Boy I couldn’t tell you but it just made them feel kind of sick,” said Stan. KATU news caught up with Columbia American Plating’s owner says he now faces hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and bankruptcy. Larry Anson didn’t feel he or his employees were ever in danger. “It’s a plating shop, I don’t think the employees were in jeopardy, I don’t think I was in jeopardy and I don’t think anybody was in jeopardy,” said Anson. Columbia American’s owner says he employed 15 people and all of them are out of work. As for the cleanup, the fire marshal says it could take months.

1,000 Gallons of Acid Contained After Spill 
A broken valve spilled more than 1,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid into a Salt Lake City industrial plant Thursday evening. One employee of Thatcher Chemical complained of a headache after inhaling fumes, but no one else was injured, said Salt Lake City Fire Marshal Dan Andrus. Thatcher Chemical’s hazardous material team responded immediately, and with the help of the fire department, had the spill contained in less than an hour. The site is located at 1900 W. Fortune Road (1350 South). Sections of Interstate 215 were closed briefly after authorities saw a small vapor cloud heading toward the freeway. Most of the chemical remained in liquid form, said fire department spokesman Dennis McKone. Firefighters also evacuated about 125 workers from nearby businesses. The accident came one day after the Environmental Protection Agency audited the company’s ability to handle a chemical emergency. “I didn’t know the final exercise was so involved and so realistic,” Andrus joked. The Thatcher employees who were evacuated later started the cleanup work. The company told the fire department it will take about four days to completely decontaminate the area. A spokesman for Thatcher Chemical refused to comment. Matt Canham

Chemcial Spill
An early Saturday morning chemical spill caused some evacuations and closed down a portion of a Greenville County Road. Firefighters responded to standard automotive products on Pelham Road. There they found a leaking tank with a valve that appeared to have been tampered with. As a result Pelham Road closed for about three hours while a haz-mat team checked things out. Investigators found a hole in a nearby fence. The situation remains under investigation. 

Tri-State Plant Food Update
Dothan fire officials are still investigating Tuesday night’s chemical leak at the Tri-State Plant Food. A Tri-State spokesman says an inspection team has been called in to check all pumps in the plant. When that is complete, things should get back to normal. Tuesday night, a cloud of ammonia gas leaked outside one of the holding tanks. Plant workers were able to contain the leak. Dothan hazardous materials crews evacuated workers and blocked off nearby streets until everything was under control. More than 1,000 neighborhood residents had to be evacuated because of a major ammonia leak at the plant three years ago. Subsequent lawsuits forced the company into bankruptcy. But attorneys for Tri-State Plant Food announced Wednesday the company will be paying all of its debts in full and coming out from under bankruptcy protection while continuing to operate. 

Three hurt in Crystal mishap
Associated Press
Three workers were sent to the hospital after hot sugar juice spewed from a ruptured expansion joint at the American Crystal Sugar plant in East Grand Forks, authorities said. Factory manager Bob Aune said the ruptured joint spilled hot juice from the molasses extraction plant on the workers – sending all three to Altru Hospital in Grand Forks. Aune said one worker was treated and released. A second was treated for first- and second-degree burns. A third employee suffered more serious burns and was transferred to another hospital. Aune said an investigation was under way to determine the cause of the rupture. 

UPDATE DE Refinery Acid Spill Investigation Continues
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) – May 6, 2003 — State and federal officials continued their investigation Tuesday into the rupture of a sulfuric acid storage tank at the Motiva Enterprises oil refinery in Delaware City. Up to 8,000 gallons of sulfuric acid spilled when the top of the tank ruptured late Sunday at the refinery, where one worker was killed and eight injured in an acid tank explosion two years ago. “Our preliminary investigation… leads to the cause being an overpressurization of the tank, but the investigation is not over,” said Maria Taylor, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. Taylor said she did not know what caused the overpressurization. Refinery spokesman Spiros Mantzavinos did not immediately return telephone calls from The Associated Press on Tuesday seeking comment. Officials said the spill was contained to the plant site, and that tests showed normal ph levels in the Delaware River. Crews worked to decontaminate areas around the tank and drain the remaining contents into railroad cars. DNREC did not inform the public until late Monday, more than 24 hours after the accident. Taylor said no notification was required because the spill was contained on site, but DNREC routinely issues notifications about spills from residential fuel oil tanks. Motiva has been under state and federal scrutiny since July 17, 2001, when a tank holding spent sulfuric acid exploded and collapsed. Investigators traced the fatal accident to inadequate safety and maintenance practices; and state lawmakers later passed new inspection and maintenance rules for aboveground storage tanks. The EPA and DNREC jointly sued Motiva last year for water pollution caused by the 2001 spill; the lawsuit is still pending in federal court. A federal cleanup order issued in August 2001 requires the company to inspect and fix all tanks not already under Environmental Protection Agency safety oversight, including the one involved in Sunday’s spill. Mantzavinos said the acid spilled from the top of a tank used by the refinery’s alkylation unit _ an area that makes high-octane ingredients for gasoline. Other problems at the same alkylation unit may have figured in the 2001 explosion, investigators have reported, and refinery officials demolished another deteriorating tank in the area after the 2001 spill. Before the 2001 accident, used acid was piped from Motiva’s alkylation system with higher than usual amounts of potentially explosive hydrocarbon residues. On March 27, Motiva contractor Vincent Slingwine was hospitalized for 11 days for treatment of burns suffered when he opened a pipe containing sulfuric acid under pressure. Slingwine said his work order identified the piping system as safe and empty. Company officials have declined to discuss the case, citing the potential for a lawsuit. 

Hanford power plant is shut after condenser springs leak 
RICHLAND — The Northwest’s only nuclear power plant has been shut down because of a hole in the condenser, Energy Northwest said Monday. The 1,200-megawatt Columbia Generating Station was shut down Sunday, less than a week before its planned refueling outage was scheduled to begin May 10. There was never any threat to employees at the plant or to the public, said Don McManman, a spokesman for Energy Northwest, a public power consortium that owns the plant at Hanford Nuclear Reservation, north of Richland. The hole was detected Saturday when the conductivity of the reactor water began to increase. Reactor water is kept pure so it cannot conduct electricity. When water — drawn from the Columbia River — from the circulating water/cooling tower system mixes with the reactor water, the mineral content of the reactor water increases dramatically, and the conductivity is increased. Traces of fluorides and chlorides were found in the reactor water. The flow of circulating water into the reactor water system was about 19 gallons a minute, or about the same as a running garden hose. Energy Northwest had not decided Monday whether it would start the refueling outage earlier now that the plant has been shut down. The electricity generated at the nuclear power plant is sold by Bonneville Power Administration. 

Sulfuric acid spills at Motiva
By JEFF MONTGOMERY Staff reporter 05/06/2003
Thousands of gallons of sulfuric acid escaped late Sunday from the top of a storage tank at a Delaware City refinery where more than 1 million gallons of acid spilled during a fatal tank explosion less than two years ago. An Environmental Protection Agency official said Monday a chemical reaction may have ruptured the tank at Motiva Enterprises, spilling 4,000 to 8,000 gallons of acid. A company spokesman said most of the spill drained to the refinery’s wastewater treatment plant without contaminating soil or water. “Preliminary investigations are there was no fire or explosion,” said Spiros Mantzavinos, a refinery spokesman. “Right now the refinery is operating at a reduced rate.” The state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the EPA were investigating on Monday. DNREC did not inform the public about the accident, which left the steel tank ruptured at its top, until late Monday. “Our information was that it was contained,” said DNREC spokeswoman Maria A. Taylor. “The release wasn’t outside the plant property.” Neither Motiva nor DNREC provided estimates Monday on the amounts of sulfur dioxide or other pollutants released to the air or ground during the spill. Company air monitoring tests found no violations of state pollution laws, Mantzavinos said. Sulfuric acid forms sulfur dioxide and hydrogen when reacting with metals or organic matter, according to published health agency reports. Tens of thousands of pounds of sulfur dioxide were released at Motiva during the spill in 2001. DNREC has routinely notified residents when as little as 100 pounds of sulfur dioxide – a respiratory irritant and contributor to acid rain – escapes from factories. DNREC Deputy Secretary David Small said the spill appeared to have been caused by excessive pressure in the 80,000- to 90,000-gallon tank. Workers on Monday were decontaminating areas around the tank and draining the remaining contents into railroad cars. They had filled one 100-ton rail car with acid from the damaged tank by late Monday, and planned to begin filling a second rail car, Mantzavinos said. Motiva has been under state and federal scrutiny since July 17, 2001, when a tank holding hydrocarbon-laced acid exploded and collapsed in another area of the refinery, killing one man and injuring at least eight others. Investigators traced the accident to inadequate safety and maintenance practices; state lawmakers later passed new inspection and maintenance rules for above-ground storage tanks. A federal cleanup order issued in August 2001 required the company to inspect and fix all tanks not already under EPA safety oversight, including the one involved in Sunday’s spill. Records released earlier under the Freedom of Information Act show that the tank was built in 1996 and was externally inspected in December and was not due for an internal inspection until 2006. Mantzavinos said the acid spilled from the top of a tank used by the refinery’s alkylation unit – an area that makes high-octane ingredients for gasoline. Other problems at the same alkylation unit may have figured in the 2001 explosion, investigators have reported, and refinery officials demolished another deteriorating tank in the area after the 2001 spill. Refiners use sulfuric acid as a catalyst and to remove impurities when making alkylates. Before the 2001 accident, used acid was piped from Motiva’s alkylation system with higher than usual amounts of potentially explosive hydrocarbon residues. State officials released a report last month showing that the refinery had a maintenance backlog and was below the industry norm for upkeep. The EPA and DNREC jointly sued Motiva last year for water pollution caused by the acid spill in 2001, in a case still pending in U.S. District Court. Motiva already is spending millions cleaning up contaminated soil and runoff. On March 27, Motiva contractor Vincent Slingwine was burned and spent 11 days at the Crozer-Chester Medical Center burn unit in Upland, Pa., after he opened a pipe containing sulfuric acid under pressure. Slingwine said his work order identified the piping system as safe and empty. Company officials have declined to discuss the case, citing the potential for a lawsuit. The Motiva refinery was built in the late 1950s to process high-sulfur crude oil. The plant refines about 175,000 barrels a day at full capacity. 

Flower firm employees in gas accident
By Tom Odula
An employee of a horticultural firm had a miscarriage after she was exposed to high concentrations of Ammonium gas in Nairobi at the weekend. She was among 34 other employees of the East African Grower Limited Company (EAGL) who by today were still hospitalised at the Nairobi West Hospital in serious condition after inhaling the poisonous gas. Sixty one other employees from the company which is based at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Cargo Village were treated and discharged at the hospital. According to police sources the gas was released on Sunday morning as technicians were repairing the cold store room where the company stores horticultural products for exportation. Sources said the technicians were mixing the gas with cold water when the gas spilled and spread to an adjacent room where ninety five employees of the company were working. The workers sensed the putrid smell of the gas and ran towards the building exit and in the process three people fainted during the stampede. Airport police in conjunction with emergency service units rushed the workers to hospital where they received life saving treatment. The scene was later visited by the Officer in Charge of port services at the JKIA Dr J.T Saburo who ensured that the gas was contained. The Kenya Airport Police Unit (KAPU) commandant Thomas Chigamba confirmed the incident adding that investigations had been launched. 

No environmental hazard from liquid fertilizer spill in SE Minnesota
Publishing date: 05-02-2003 3:37 PM
(LeRoy-AP) — Authorities say the spill of 1600 gallons of liquid fertilizer on a gravel road in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa does not pose an environmental hazard. Officials with Ostrander Ag Center in LeRoy say a driver had problems with a chemical tank which resulted in spilling the fertilizer on a six-and-a-half mile stretch of gravel road – six miles in Howard County, Iowa, and about half-a-mile in Mower County yesterday afternoon. State and local authorities were notified, and recommended that a plow be used to “blade” the road to disperse the material. 

Romanian chemical plant spews noxious gases to Bulgaria 
SOFIA (bnn)–A Romanian chemical plant on the Danube river spewed Friday clouds of noxious gases at a Bulgarian town on the opposite bank of the river, environment officials said. Amonia contents in the air above Nikopol, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) northeast of Sofia, was three times above the safety level, Civil Defense officials said. The gas came from a chemical plant in Romania’s Turnu Magurele on the opposite side of the Danube, which makes the common border of Bulgaria and Romania. It was the fourth air pollution case in Nikopol this year that the Romanian plant caused, the Civil Defense said. The Turnu Magurele plant has been poisoning the air in Nikopol for years despite Bulgaria’s repeated protests and Romania’s pledges to stop the toxic emissions.