Chemical Accidents Page #6
This page was last updated on 05/06/2010
7 hospitalized after chlorine gas flows into Tempe YMCA’s pool
Patricia Biggs The Arizona Republic Aug. 29, 2003 12:00 AM
TEMPE – Seven people, including five children, were hospitalized Thursday night after a chlorine gas accident at the Tempe YMCA’s outdoor swimming pool. A total of 25 people were treated at the scene, said Phil Rohe, Tempe senior fire inspector. A 35-year-old woman, who was not in the pool, was immediately taken to a hospital in respiratory distress. The other six were taken to a hospital after treatment at the scene. Chlorine gas is toxic and can be deadly, Rohe said. The most common problems are quickened heartbeat and difficulty breathing. The incident occurred about 5 p.m. when 25 children and an adult lifeguard were in the pool for a swim team practice. The pool filtration system had been shut down for routine maintenance. When the system was started back up, liquid chlorine and acid somehow mixed in a pipe, releasing chlorine gas into the pool. “It was noticed that a greenish-yellow burp came out of the pipe system,” said Vinny Mirizio, executive director of the YMCA. “The lifeguard that was in the pool immediately saw it.” The pool was evacuated in 56 seconds and the entire facility was evacuated in two minutes, he said. “All the kids started coughing,” said Roseanne Grootegoed. Her son, Zachary, 7, was in the pool but was not affected. “Some people were crying,” he said. Employees washed the eyes of the children who had been in the pool, and about 80 firefighters from Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert and Phoenix responded. The 35-year-old woman had gone looking for her child in the pool area during the evacuation. It was unclear whether her distress was brought on by the chlorine gas or anxiety. The child was found safe. Tempe fire investigators were working with YMCA employees to find out how the system malfunctioned.
Ammonia leak shuts down port
AP Saturday, August 30, 2003
MIAMI The Port of Miami, one of the busiest cruise ship hubs in the world, was shut down for about two hours Friday after ammonia leaked from a shipping container, fire officials said. One worker was injured. The ammonia escaped when a valve on the container malfunctioned, said Lieutenant Eugene Germin Jr., a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue spokesman. The port reopened after the leak was stopped and a vapor cloud that had formed over the area dissipated. Tim Gallagher, a spokesman for Carnival Cruise Lines, said that about 2,000 passengers aboard one returning ship were kept on board because of the leak but that it posed no danger to them. The Port of Miami, in addition to being a stopping point for more than 3 million cruise ship passengers annually, is a major cargo port, with more than 8 million tons passing through each year.
Acid Spill at Lexington Business
A Lexington road was closed Monday morning after an acid spill at a business on Palumbo Drive. A 300 gallon drum of hydrochloric acid was punctured with a fork lift at Central Kentucky Processing early Monday morning. The spill was level “A” hazmat entry and crew neutralized the spill with soda ash. There were no injuries or evacuation due to the spill, but a section of Palumbo Ddrive, from Codell Drive to Todds Rroad, was shut down while the scene was cleared.
Thousands of Dead Fish Found
The Iowa DNR is investigating a major fish kill that happened Sunday near Pocahontas, Iowa. Authorities say tens of thousands of fish are suspected dead on Lizard Creek, southeast of Pocahontas. They say the kill appears to have originated at the waste water treatment plant for the City of Pocahontas. Maintenance work was being done at the plant and outflow from the plant being discharged into the creek was not fully treated. The DNR recorded very high levels of ammonia in the water, which can be highly toxic to fish. The kill was spread over at least eight miles of the stream. Fish included green sunfish, northern pike, bullhead, minnows, chubs and stonerollers. A precise count has not been completed.
Bulgarian Town Gassed with Ammonia by Romanian Plant Again
Bulgarian town of Nikopol, situated on border river Danube, was gassed Saturday morning by the Romanian fertilizer plant in the city of Turnu Magurele on the other bank. On Saturday morning the concentration of ammonia in the air hit a peak of more than three times and a half above the norm. The latest gassing of Nikopol with ammonia came on May 2. The Romanian chemical plant in the city of Turnu Magurele suspended its operations a day later. The production process in the plant had to be resumed only after the technologies are brought up to the set norms.
Chemical spill at Fed Center hospitalizes 2, closes Kipling
By Charley Able, Rocky Mountain News August 28, 2003
LAKEWOOD – A hazardous material spill at the Denver Federal Center forced the closure of a portion of heavily traveled Kipling Street for more than two hours Wednesday, but caused no serious injuries. Three Federal Center security guards were treated at the scene for nose and throat irritation after they discovered a 55-gallon drum leaking acetone chloroform in the back of a delivery truck. Two of the guards were taken to the hospital, but their conditions were not available late Wednesday. Acetone chloroform is a highly volatile chemical used in manufacturing and as a cleaning solution. “We don’t know much more than that there was an incident. There was a minor spill,” said Ben Gonzales, deputy regional administrator for the General Services Administration. The GSA functions as the property manager for federal agencies. The leak was found about 10:15 a.m. when Federal Center guards conducting a routine inspection of the truck smelled the solvent. Further inspection of the truck found the chemical was leaking from a barrel that had been punctured by a forklift inside the truck, said Steve Schaad, regional director of the Federal Protective Service. The service is a branch of the Department of Homeland Security.Schaad said there is no reason to believe the spill was anything more than an accident. Federal Center officials said the truck was operated by Smith Systems Transportation of Arvada. Attempts to reach the company for comment were unsuccessful. The truck had picked up the barrel containing the acetone chloroform before heading to the Federal Center, where it was to pick up other material for delivery to a disposal company. The punctured barrel was placed inside a sealed container for removal. The spill, estimated at 5 to 10 gallons, was confined to the truck and eventually evaporated. Students at three nearby schools – Fletcher Miller, Creighton Middle School and Dennison Elementary – were kept inside for about two hours and the schools’ ventilation systems were shut off after the incident, said Rick Kaufman, spokesman for Jefferson County Schools.
Chinese Worker Dies After Exposure to Gas
BEIJING (AP)–A migrant worker has died from World War II-era mustard gas that escaped from five old barrels he had taken to a recycling center, the Chinese government said Friday. Li Guizhen died Thursday night at a military hospital in the northern city of Qiqihar, more than two weeks after he and 33 others were exposed to the chemical weapon, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The barrels were abandoned by Japanese troops in China at the end of the war and were recently dug up. The Japanese government has expressed regret over the accident. Li bought the five barrels on Aug 4. to sell for recycling, Xinhua said. The gas spilled from the barrels while Li was at a recycling center. It burned 95 percent of his body and sickened others nearby. “Medical personnel in the hospital have exerted their utmost to rescue him, using the best medicine available, but failed to respond because of the severe harm done to him by the deadly gas,” Xinhua said. Mustard gas causes severe skin blistering and breathing difficulties. Exposure for as little as 10 minutes can cause death. Japan’s wartime occupation of China remains a sensitive spot for many Chinese, and even today the communist government in Beijing often invokes Japan’s brutality during World War II.
Chemical Spill in North Lubbock
As of 6 p.m., Hazardous Materials teams were still on the scene at a North Lubbock chemical plant, where a 5,000 gallon tank full of hydrochloric acid ruptured just after 9:30 Friday morning. While there is no longer a threat to public health, the threat was a real concern earlier in the day. There was even some brief discussion about locking down a nearby elementary school because of possible airborne chemicals. Just after 9:30 Friday morning, emergency crews and Haz-Mat teams converged on the Koch materials plant following reports of a large chemical spill. “We got a report about a 5,000 gallon tank collapsing,” says Lubbock Fire Department Public Information Officer Mark Ethridge. Before going in, crews were briefed on the dangers. The Koch plant produces an oil and water based asphalt for roads. Witnesses say a tanker truck was unloading acid into a permanent tank when the permanent tank collapsed. Six people were inside and all made it out safely. Breathing large amounts of the chemical can be toxic. So, the EOC mobilized and established a perimeter around the plant. By late morning, Hazmat crews had the situation under control and there was no longer a threat to public health.
Crews Work To Clean Up Ammonia Leak At AK Steel
Reported by: 9News Web produced by: Stacy Puzo
HAZMAT crews cleaned up an ammonia leak at the AK steel plant in Middletown Friday. The Butler County Emergency Management Agency said a product leaked from a truck on the AK Steel property. There was no threat to anyone outside the plant, as none of the product left that area of the plant. AK steel representatives said they have the spill under control and the leak contained — crews just have to clean it up. There is no word yet on what caused the leak.