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posted hazcheck.com 1 May 2009 Chemicals Transport These incidents are taken from the Chemicals Transport section of the journal Hazards Intelligence (HInt), and are reproduced by permission of the publisher. Other transport incidents may be found in other sections of the journal. For fuller information and a sample copy of HInt, visit www.saunalahti.fi/ility The articles are reproduced for Hazcheck.com users involved in dangerous goods transport for background information on incidents, emergency response and outcomes. By viewing this content, you accept that Exis Techologies Limited, providers of Hazcheck.com, have no responsibility for third party information reproduced on this website. 04.03 USA 090403-07-A Brewton, AL. Frit Car. Fire-fighters had to pull three workers from a railroad tank car after they were overcome with fumes in the enclosed space. Capt. Ronnie Thompson, who went into the tank to rescue the men, said the accident occurred at Frit Car, a tank-car-repair plant at about 14:25. The three men were hospitalized. Brewton Fire Chief Lawrence Weaver later said two workers were taken to hospitals by LifeFlight, one was transported by ambulance, and a fourth worker was treated at the scene. Weaver said the chemical was contained in the rail car, and no other employees nor the public were in danger. The workers were overcome by fumes from a rubber solvent solution used to coat the inside of the tank car. 04.05 Australia 090405-04 Between Gladstone and Mount Larcom, Queensland. A truck carrying 36 tonnes of ammonium nitrate rolled off the side of the road between Gladstone and Mt Larcom, resulting in police setting up a 1km exclusion zone before emergency services declared the area safe. Gladstone Police Senior Sergeant Mike Dixon said the incident happened about 10:00 after the truck attempted to pull over to let a wide load going in the opposite direction pass through. Senior Sergeant Dixon said as the truck pulled over, the wheels slid on an incline and the vehicle ended up on its side. There were no injuries. The chemical was being transported in one tonne bags. Several bags were damaged, resulting in some product being spilt. Police, Queensland Fire and Rescue and a Chemical Spill Recovery Team attended the scene. Traffic was diverted through Yarwun and Queensland Rail did not operate trains through the exclusion zone until it was declared safe at 11:30. 04.07 Sri Lanka 090407-01-A Off Mullaitivu, near the eastern port of Trincomalee. Sri Lanka’s navy said it had rescued the crew of a tanker in distress off the east coast and towed the vessel into deep seas to prevent pollution from its cargo of sulphuric acid. The MT Granba, flying the flag of Turkey, was abandoned by her crew off the eastern port of Trincomalee after its cargo of sulphuric acid began leaking. The crew were rescued by navy vessels which went to the scene in response to a distress message from the main Search and Rescue Coordination Centre in Italy indicating MT Granba needed assistance. The navy said the vessel was overloaded with a cargo of sulphuric acid which was leaking from cargo tanks into her ballast tanks and the ship was in danger. She had set sail from Tuticorin in India on April 2, bound for Kakinada, another Indian port and was detected by navy radar in Trincomalee when she neared the coast. The vessel’s crew had been communicating with its agents on repairs to the vessel when the distress call was received, the navy said in a statement: 'Sri Lanka Navy vessels, having verified the legitimacy of the vessel, approached the disabled tanker and provided assistance to steer the vessel away. However, its crew abandoned their vessel and Sri Lanka navy rescued them. Naval personnel boarded the tanker and found that its cargo tanks were damaged. Its sulphuric acid was leaking into ballast tanks. It has been found that this can lead to environmental implications in Sri Lankan waters and coastline.' As a result, the navy has taken measures to tow the tanker into the deep sea with the help of a tug from the Sri Lanka Ports Authority as it has already begun to list. Agents of the vessel are making arrangement to provide a salvage tug for possible towing. Navy spokesman Captain D.P.K. Dassanayake told national media: 'The ship was abandoned in the seas off Mullaitivu, Foul Point, a few nautical miles away from the Trincomalee Light House.' He said the Navy had informed the authorities in Turkey of the incident through Government channels. On April 8, the rescued crew members were released on personal bail by the Trincomalee Magistrate Courts. The Marine Environment Protection Authority would seek the Attorney General’s advice before taking legal action against the Turkish ship which sank in the Sri Lankan waters early that day. MEPA Chairman Ranjith Kularatne said the ship carrying about 6,500 tonnes of sulphuric acid had sunk just after midnight. He said although there was no immediate threat to marine life in Sri Lankan waters: 'According to Sri Lanka’s Environmental Act, legal action should be taken in such a situation. … There are no immediate environmental implications in Sri Lankan waters or the coastline because of the sinking and also the area is not a fish breeding area.' Mr. Kularatne, however, said that an environmental impact could not be ruled out. The ship had sunk some 53 nautical miles from Sri Lanka’s eastern Paul Point, to a depth of some 3,500 metres. He said the salvage operation of the ship had been abandoned by the Turkish authorities. The 1983-built chemical products tanker is managed and operated by Turkey’s Ortak Denizcilik Sanayi, while its registered owner is Kadir Colak Denizcilik Turizm. 04.14 Australia 090414-01 Berry, New South Wales. The Princes Highway north of Berry on the New South Wales south coast was closed after a truck containing 20,000 litres of sulphuric acid overturned. Ambulance Rescue released the trapped driver and he was taken to Shoalhaven Hospital with minor injuries. Fire Brigades spokesman Craig Brierly said the tanker flipped onto its side, and was leaking acid from vents on its roof after crashing about two kilometres north of Berry just after 05:00. 04.14 France 090414-05 Bégard, (Côtes-d’Armor – 22). A van carrying medical supplies, including oxygen, exploded at around 16:30 on the four-lane highway near Bégard. The driver was slightly injured. The vehicle was destroyed. A fire-fighter said debris from the explosion had been found up to 200m away. He said the driver, who was heading for Lannion, seemed to have lost control of the vehicle, went into the central ditch, then rebounded into the middle of the highway, against the safety barrier. The driver escaped before the van caught fire, leading six of eight oxygen cylinders to explode. 04.15 USA 090415-12 Williamsburg, KY. Super 8 Hotel. The Super 8 Hotel was evacuated during the early hours, after a hotel employee 'heard a chemical leaking from a truck parked outside the hotel'. Williamsburg Fire and Rescue Department Chief James Privett said a hotel desk clerk heard something coming out of a truck and called the department. Chief Privett said when he and Williamsburg Police Captain Eddie Cain responded to the scene around 02:00, they could see a gas coming out of the truck. The hotel clerk could not initially determine which room the truck’s driver was in, Privett said, and after reading the truck’s cargo placard number police and fire-fighters evacuated the building. Privett said the placard number told him that we needed to evacuate the area at least 350 feet around it. He said the chemical the truck was carrying was liquid nitrogen, 'which is used for refrigeration'. While emergency management officials were en route, the driver of the truck was located. Privett said: 'He advised us at that time that it was empty. That it was a release valve that pops off occasionally. We interviewed him, got everything on the truck shut down.' Privett said there were no injuries, but the evacuation was necessary because no one knew how much chemical the truck was carrying or potentially leaking into the air: 'We didn’t know how much it had, or really no way of knowing at the time we got the call, so we had done all the precautionary measures.' | |
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