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Tanker Leaks Caustic Vapor in Yuba City (CA)

By Dave Nielsen/Appeal-Democrat

A tanker truck leaking a toxic chemical Monday on Colusa Avenue in Yuba City sent the driver of a car behind it to the hospital.

Michael Hardesty, 57, of Marysville, was following the truck near Colusa and Gray avenues about 9:30 a.m. when he inhaled ammonium hydroxide, an agricultural chemical that vaporizes on contact with air, Yuba City police Lt. Tom Tappe said.

Hardesty complained of breathing problems and was taken to Rideout Memorial Hospital, Yuba City Fire Department Battalion Chief Jeff Julian said.

The crew of a Bi-County Ambulance traveling behind the truck noticed the odor and called the truck's owner, Simplot Grower Solutions of Colusa, which called the truck driver.

The truck pulled over and parked behind a Chevron gas station at the southeast corner of Colusa and Clark avenues. Police closed Clark Avenue south of Colusa Avenue as well as the station and a liquor store next door. The Teriyaki House at 716 Colusa Ave. also was closed because of chemical fumes, according to a sign on the restaurant.

Ammonium hydroxide can burn the lungs if inhaled and can also burn the skin, Julian said. The truck, which was on its way to Wheatland, was carrying 3,000 gallons of the chemical, which leaked from a valve on top of the tank, said Yuba City police Lt. Bill Ollar said.

A preliminary investigation indicated the truck had been overloaded and the contents expanded under heat, blowing valve gaskets and allowing the chemical to escape, Ollar said. Simplot Grower Solutions sent another truck to relieve pressure on the valve by pumping part of the chemical from the tanker, Ollar said.

The vapor should not cause health problems in limited concentrations, he said. Link Here

Waterford Township Homes Evacuated After Hazmat Scare (Detroit, Michigan)

Nuclear Material In Ground Struck

POSTED: 10:44 am EDT May 4, 2004 A hazmat situation in Waterford Township has residents on alert. Waterford Township police told Local 4 that four to five houses were evacuated after a soil-testing rod containing some type of nuclear material was hit underground.

The rod was bent and workers are trying to get the it out of the ground.

The incident happened on Crescent Lacke Road wouth of M-59. Police and hazmat crews are on the scene.

Police say after the material is hauled away, residents will be allowed back in their homes. Link Here

Here's an update on what I posted from the noon news here yesterday re: truck leaking liquid fertilizer.....BTW, so much for safety Mr Aguilar!! He only cared about getting to Fresno, leak or no leak!! And I wonder why it took 3 1/2 hours to start cleanup? Did he not report it? I can't imagine it was the FD. (not threat related but stupidity related)

Fire crews called out to contain fertilizer leak

By Ben Spillman
The Desert Sun
May 4th, 2004

A trailer leaking fertilizer at a truck stop near Interstate 10 prompted authorities to call out a hazardous materials team.

The daylong effort to isolate and clean the spill caused a stir at the Flying J truck stop in Thousand Palms and upset the driver who worried he wouldn’t get the fertilizer to its destination on time.

Driver Carlos Aguilar, who was hauling the fertilizer from Texas to Fresno, said he thought the commotion was a bit much for a spill that consisted of about 20 gallons of fertilizer.

"They already killed all my time," said Aguilar who’d hoped to deliver the fertilizer by 8 a.m. today. "If everything goes right I might be able to get out of here by midnight."

Authorities believe Aguilar first noticed the spill as early as 8 a.m. Monday morning, but firefighters weren’t called until around 11:30 a.m., said Jerry Hendershot, a battalion chief with the Riverside County Fire Department/California Department of Forestry.

Hendershot said the truck contained about 40,000 pounds of liquid fertilizer that, if allowed to dry, could become flammable.

Authorities cordoned off the truck in the truck stop parking lot while California Highway Patrol officers stood by in case of a fire.

Hendershot said the truck contained about 20,000 pounds each of two fertilizer-related chemicals.

Some of the containers were apparently leaking onto the ground.

http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories2004/local/20040504013333.shtml