Posted on 03/06/2005 9:53:57 PM PST by The Chosen One
Edited on 03/06/2005 10:09:53 PM PST by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
SALT LAKE CITY -- A railcar leaking acid forced the closure of major highways and the evacuation of more than 6,000 people.
By late Sunday, about 5,000 of the 13,000 gallons of industrial waste had leaked into the ground, but South Salt Lake fire officials were hoping to pump out the rest within a few hours and end the evacuation.
There were no injuries, but the area downwind of the leak was evacuated because of fumes from the spill, Fire Chief Steve Foote said. Evacuation centers were set up at church meeting houses, but most of those evacuated were staying with friends or relatives.
The waste, eventually found to be hydrochloric, hydrofluoric, nitric and sulfuric acids, was discovered leaking about 6 a.m. and the tanker wall was becoming soft, Foote said Sunday night.
Officials brought in 6,500-gallon portable tank. They first planned to lift a hazmat technician in a cherry picker to the top of the tanker so he could attach a hose to the rail tanker and pump the acids into the portable tanks.
However, they changed their plans after a specialist from Las Vegas arrived and the latest idea was to pierce the side of the tank with remotely operated equipment and pump it into the portable tanks. "Once we have one tank that's filled and holding, we could lift the evacuation order," Foote said. The cherry-picker plan was being kept in mind as a backup.
The fire officials and Gov. Jon Huntsman expressed displeasure at the difficulty in determining exactly what was in the tanker. "It's tough to know how to respond if you don't know the contents of the bulk container," Huntsman said.
The leak was discovered while crews were loading chemicals into the parked railcar at a Union Pacific rail yard. Officials said the tanker car was owned by Kennecott Utah Copper and was sublet to Phillips Environmental, which could not tell them immediately what all was in the waste.
"We're going to be looking into that," Foote said. "When we ask a direct question, we expect a direct answer."
Eventually, tests determined what acids were in the waste, and Phillips Environmental provided verbal confirmation. Documents finally were delivered late Sunday.
The spilled acid has not yet been neutralized. Foote said authorities wanted to concentrate on the tanker first.
Officers closed 600 West from 2100 South to 2700 South. Northbound I-15 from 4500 South to 2100 South, the westbound I-80 off ramp to southbound I-15, and the southbound collector on I-15 up to westbound I-80 also were closed.
The area south and east of the rail yard was evacuated. A little less than one square mile recommended for evacuation, with less than half of that a mandatory evacuation area.
The acids were not full strength but still are highly toxic and can cause severe burns if they come in direct contact with the skin or eyes, and the fumes can cause respiratory problems.
LOL. You must have been here in August. The lake gets ripe in the late summer, and a northerly will cover the area with that lovely rotting scent. Most years we don't notice it, but some years it's pretty rude. A little touch of Tacoma in the mountains.
Later, word came that what was in the tank was phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, acetic acid, hydrofluoric acid and ammonia, with the acid at only 10 percent concentration. Deseret News
"Umm...y'think they put acids in an unlined steel tank?"
Were it an unlined tank it would have dissolved quite readily upon filling. Fox news just mentioned possible bullet holes in the tank. hmmmmm
Err, what was the ammonia doing in there? They were trying to neutralize the acids?
Yikes, somebody that knows 49CFR. !
If you are going to have an accident with the storage at some point in the future(you plan ahead whether likely or not) then in the event of that occurring you want it where it will pose the least danger. Nevada is perfect, low water table and population area.
The second thing it does is place it all in one area secure and watched over, instead of 100, and 100 different levels of maintenance.
There is more danger of from nuke plants built on fault lines than stored waste in Nevada. Whether we like it or not nuke waste is being transported on our highways and trains today, somehow I do not think we will ever be informed of an accident if one occurs. There is more danger to the people of East Tennessee and Colorado from nuke waste than there ever will be in Nevada.
No, there is much more to it than that, see my post 27.
Here we go, again!
The "Catch 22" here is the fact that the placards could also tell a terrorist what the contents of the tank is.
Say you have a clearly marked tank of Liquid Chlorine.
One well placed RPG round could potentially kill thousands.
Mix an acid with a base, though...
Depends. The "waste manifest" which is the shipping paper to accompany the waste may well have been filled out "according to EPA" regulations.
I have stood outside a wrecked semi trailer with fumes issuing from the doors while the driver told us that the manifests were inside the trailer.
Stupidity manifests in all job categories...
40 hour refresher today :-)
I have worked around the chem in question IIRC, not familiar with it's required handling needs, but I do know how much it was feared by the plant operators.
I believe that was at American Hoerst(sp) Corp., near Baton Rouge La.(many moons ago)
Years ago I talked to a cleanup crew that was working at a truck stop. A truck had been loaded with barrels containing an acid. The driver made it about two hundred miles before the barrels started leaking.
I know I'm stepping' on Neanderthal toes, but, for cripes sake, we are in the future now.
i.e. ~ Biological Transmutation ~
Louis Kervan
Roger that. Hydrochloric acid will eat right through ferrous metals; the lining of choice used to be rubber but I'm not sure what's used today. I'm sure certain plastics would be just as good or better.
Do you think they are going to be transported in a tank car as a Liquid?
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