If Anything Can Explode, Leak, Contaminate…
Posted by feww on January 12, 2014
COLLAPSING INFRASTRUCTURE
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Estimated 100,000 HAZMAT storage sites across the U.S. can potentially explode, leak, contaminate the environment—FIRE-EARTH
United States is dotted with an estimated 100,000 HAZMAT storage sites containing one or more of deadly substances including radioactive, biohazardous, toxic, explosive, flammable, asphyxiating, corrosive, oxidizing, pathogenic, or allergenic materials, as well as herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers that don’t fall into those categories.
Some of the substances (hazchems), which include more than 200 types of dioxins, are so lethal that even a small leak into the water supply could kill or permanently harm millions of people, before they are detected.
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Tap water in West Virginia counties remains unsafe
Some 300,000 residents in 9 West Virginia counties would be unable to use tap water for drinking, cooking, bathing or washing for days, following the chemical spill that contaminated the Elk River, on January 9.
Governor Tomblin declared a State of Emergency for nine counties on Thursday in Virginia following a major spill of 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol, a chemical used in the coal industry, along the Elk River in Charleston.
Tomblin has urged the residents NOT to use tap water for drinking, cooking, washing or bathing.
The State of Emergency Declaration is for Boone, Cabell, Clay, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Putnam, and Roane counties. “This declaration follows a notice from West Virginia American Water Company that its water supply had become contaminated. Residents served by Lincoln PSD, Queen Shoals PSD, Reamer PSD, City of Culloden PSD, and City of Hurricane PSD are also affected.” according to the WV State website.
A DEP spokesperson said the chemical was 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, a “sudsing agent,” which is used in the processing of coal.
5,000 to 35,000 Gallons Leaked
Gary Southern, President of Freedom Industries, where the leak came from, told reporters he couldn’t say how much of the chemical, 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, had been leaked, only that it was less than 35,000 gallons.
Gov Tomblin, on the other hand, has stated that only 5,000 gallons of chemical had leaked into Elk River.
A Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) spokesman said the chemical is used a “sudsing agent,” in the processing of coal. The substance has an odor like licorice or anise.
“Our teams are out and we have employees that have worked this (water) system that are extremely knowledgeable. [They are] out collecting samples and looking at flushing activities at this time,” Jeff McIntyre, president of West Virginia American Water Co, told reporters on Saturday.
“But we are talking days” before water quality meets federally mandated quality standards, Reuters reported McIntyre as saying.
Bottled Water
“As of Saturday, FEMA has delivered approximately 1 million liters of water from its distribution centers in Cumberland and Frederick, Maryland, to the area for use by the state,” said a spokesperson. “FEMA will continue to deliver supplies to the state for distribution, as needed.”
Freedom Industries
The Chemical leak from Freedom Industries occurred upstream of the intake at the Kanawha Valley water treatment—the largest in West Virginia—and has resulted in a tap water ban for at least 100,000 homes and businesses, or about 300,000 people, said West Virginia American Water.
Freedom Industries describes itself as “a full service producer of specialty chemicals for the mining, steel, and cement industries.” The company was founded in 1986 in Charleston, WV, according to the company website.
Freedom Industries Etowah River Terminal. The terminal is a liquid bulk storage and distribution facility servicing the Port of Charleston, West Virginia. The terminal is located on the Elk River, 2.5 miles from the Kanawha River in Downtown Charleston. Etowah River Terminal operates 13 bulk tanks with a total liquid storage capacity of 4,000,000 gallons. Source: http://www.freedom-industries.com/
The company says it is a “leading producer of freeze conditioning agents, dust control palliatives, flotation reagents, water treatment polymers and other specialty chemicals.”
State of Emergency in West Virginia
Chronology (continued from previous posts)
01-11-14 @ noon
- To read the proclamation extending the State of Emergency to Cabell, Clay, Logan and Roane counties, CLICK HERE.
- To read the proclamation declaring a State of Emergency in Boone, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln and Putnam counties, CLICK HERE.
Developing story …
Related Links
- UPDATE: Hundreds are Sick after West Virgina Water Pollution January 11, 2014
- State of Emergency Declared in West Virginia after Chemical Spill January 10, 2014
- 737 People Reported Sickness after West Virgina Water Pollution January 11, 2014
- UPDATED: State of Emergency Declared in West Virginia after Chemical Spill January 10, 2014
- State of Emergency Declared in West Virginia due to Chemical Spill January 10, 2014
Fire Earth 
Annette said
JL said
Possible radiation leak at New Mexico military nuclear waste site
(Reuters) – Unusually high levels of radioactive particles were found at an underground nuclear waste site in New Mexico on Saturday in what a spokesman said looked like the first real alarm since the plant opened in 1999.
U.S. officials were testing for radiation in air samples at the site where radioactive waste, such as plutonium used in defense research and nuclear weapon making, is dumped half a mile below ground in an ancient salt formation.
“They (air monitors) have alarmed in the past as a false positive because of malfunctions, or because of fluctuations in levels of radon (a naturally occurring radioactive gas),” Department of Energy spokesman Roger Nelson said.
“But I believe it’s safe to say we’ve never seen a level like we are seeing. We just don’t know if it’s a real event, but it looks like one,” he said.
It was not yet clear what caused the air-monitoring system to indicate that radioactive particles were present at unsafe levels, Nelson said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/16/us-radiation-leak-newmexico-idUSBREA1F06Y20140216
Chris said
100,000 gallons of slurry from Patriot Coal facility escapes into Kanawha creek
More than 100,000 gallons of coal slurry poured into an eastern Kanawha County stream Tuesday in what officials were calling a “significant spill” from a Patriot Coal processing facility.
Emergency officials and environmental inspectors said roughly six miles of Fields Creek had been blackened and that a smaller amount of the slurry made it into the Kanawha River near Chesapeake.
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201402110032
Linda said
Here’s an update:
Four killed as explosions rip through plants in two U.S. states
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-explosion-feedplant-20140120,0,6683639.story
OMAHA, Nebraska (Reuters) – Explosions in two U.S. states, one at an animal feed plant in Nebraska and another at a steel plant in Oklahoma, killed at least four people and injured almost a dozen on Monday, authorities said.
An explosion and fire flattened part of an animal feed plant in Omaha, Nebraska, killing two people and injuring at least 10 others, authorities said.
In the Omaha incident, about 38 employees were working at the International Nutrition plant at midmorning when there was an explosion and part of the building collapsed, interim Fire Chief Bernard Kanger told a news conference.
One body has been recovered and the other is expected to be recovered on Tuesday from the industrial accident, Kanger said. Of the 10 injured, four were in critical condition, he said.
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In a separate incident, two workers likely “burned to death” when a furnace exploded at about 4 p.m. local time at an Oklahoma steel plant, a Marshall County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher said.
A third person was injured at Mid American Steel and Wire in Madill, Oklahoma, but treated for burns and released from a local hospital, said Madill Fire Department Fire Chief Keith Pruitt.
The identities of those killed and injured were not immediately known, the officials said.
Full story at http://www.chicagotribune.com
Alex said
Interesting, how everyone else report the events after they happen!
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Two dead in explosion at Nebraska animal-feed plant
An explosion and partial building collapse at an animal-feed processing plant in Omaha on Monday left at least two people dead and 10 injured, authorities said.
About 38 employees were working at the International Nutrition plant at midmorning when there was an explosion and the building collapsed, authorities said. A specialized search-and-rescue team was sent to the site.
Interim Fire Chief Bernard Kanger said that at least 10 people were taken to hospitals in Omaha and Lincoln, Neb., and four were in critical condition. Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said that he was notified about two deaths in the explosion. The cause of the blast has not been disclosed. Kanger said the incident was an industrial accident.
— From news services
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
feww said
Alex, everyone and their friends in the United States who were (are) prevented from receiving the information posted on this blog should join efforts and take a class-action law suit against google, wordpress and others involved in censoring this blog.
Catherine Fowler said
I think they were dumping the stuff as usual into the elk river. But some people smelled and and got sick. So they got caught.
feww said
Can’t rule out that possibility. But, need experts to audit amounts of the stuff produced, sold, stored … as well as cause of the alleged leak.