Many have never seen a large and sudden release of anhydrous ammonia (NH3). Most who work with Ammonia have seen the Seward, IL ammonia release videos; however, these two videos do not put the release into perspective as to the large area which is impacted by these catastrophic releases. The Texas Air Control Board took this picture from its offices at 5555 West Loop South on May 11, 1976, after a truck carrying 7,500 gallons (~38,000 pounds) of NH3 ran off an overpass and ruptured when it hit the ground below. Seven people died, seventy-eight people were hospitalized, and more than 100 were treated for injuries. This photo will provide you a “to scale” image to show what this release looked like…
What could your NH3 38,000 pound WCS look like?
