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Knowledge for the Sulphuric Acid Industry
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Introduction
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Sulphuric Acid Plant Safety - Accidents
July 12, 2008

Introduction
Associated Links

Storage Tank Failures


Introduction

No matter how well a plant is designed and operated, there is the potential for accidents to happen.  Accidents can be as minor as small spills or releases to major incidents that require evacuation, personal injury or death.

Plans must be in place for all possible situations and personnel should be trained so they now how to react to minimize the impact of an accident.  The following are accidents, both minor and major that have involved sulphuric acid plants or sulphuric acid.

Date Location Details
July 10, 2008new2.gif (111 bytes) Kurashiki, Okayama

A pipe that carries sulfuric acid at an oil refinery of Nippon Oil Corp. in Kurashiki was discovered early Monday to be partially broken, resulting in a leakage of the high-concentration liquid, police said.  An employee at the Mizushima oil refinery noticed the leak at about 2:40 a.m. and contacted the local fire department.  It is believed that up to about 1,000 liters of the acid leaked from the five-centimeter-diameter pipe, and there are fears some of the liquid might have spilled into the Seto Inland Sea.  No damage has been reported so far, but the Mizushima Coast Guard Office ordered surveillance vessels to the area to investigate possible damages.  According to the refinery, highly concentrated sulfuric acid used to produce gasoline was sent via the pipe to a factory from a tank about a kilometer from the refinery.

July 10, 2008new2.gif (111 bytes)

 

A roll over accident on an I-75 exit ramp had environmental clean up crews busy this morning.  A semi carry sulfuric acid tipped over when it tried to take the exit ramp from State Route 65 to 75.  A small amount of the acid leaked out in the crash.  The State Highway Patrol says that the ramp had to be closed for a short time so that the spill could be cleaned up, but only a small amount is said to have gotten out.

July 9, 2008 new2.gif (111 bytes) Baltimore, Maryland

Firefighters worked yesterday morning to contain a spill of sulfuric acid at the Maryland Chemical Co. on Childs Street in South Baltimore.  A Fire Department spokesman said a contract worker was injured when some of the chemical spilled on his hands.  Chief Kevin Cartwright said the worker, whose age and identity were not available, was taken to a hospital.  He said the man had been trying to repair a 4,000-gallon tank when it ruptured about 9:30 a.m.  Most of the spill was contained by a berm set up for that purpose, and Cartwright said there are "no concerns environmentally."  The Fire Department contained the spill by 11 a.m.

July 2, 2008new2.gif (111 bytes)

Rochester, Minnesota

A tank carrying approximately 175 gallons of sulfuric acid fell off the back of a semi truck on Highway 54 near Grant Avenue in Portage County this morning.  Authorities closed the highway between Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids to clean up the spill. The road was still closed at noon. Hazardous materials teams from the Whiting Fire Department and Waupaca county were dispatched to the scene.  The tank was laying in the center median of the highway, and some of the acid pooled in a nearby ditch.  According to Lt. Dan Kontos of the Portage County Sheriff’s Department, the truck was leaving the So-White building on 54 when it turned west and the tank fell.  “There was a vapor cloud when I arrived on the scene,” Kontos said. “I could smell it as soon as I got out of my truck.”  Authorities will set up a series of booms and dikes to keep the chemical from penetrating the ground and reaching the ground water. The next step will be to apply soda ash to neutralize then remove the tank, Kontos said.  “Conditions are good right now because the wind is out,” said Plover Fire Chief Tim Kluck. “At this time we aren’t evacuating the nearby businesses.”  The chemical is used to clean concrete and can be harmful if inhaled, Kluck said.
The state Department of Natural Resources, the Portage County Sheriff’s Department, the Plover Police Department and the Wisconsin State Patrol also responded.

June 19, 2008 Hillsboro, North Dakota The American Crystal Sugar Co. plant in Hillsboro, N.D., was evacuated, and more than 20 people were taken to local hospitals after a chemical leak at the plant.  Sulfur dioxide, which is used in processing sugar beets into sugar, leaked from a hose from a delivery truck parked outside the plant unloading the chemical into a storage tank at the factory. The gas was released shortly before noon Wednesday and drifted into the factory.  A statement released by Traill County Sheriff Mike Crocker said 21 people at the plant, mostly contractors, were transported to Union Hospital in Mayville, N.D., and the Hillsboro Medical Center in Hillsboro.  Some complained of respiratory problems caused by the inhalation of sulfur dioxide, a cold, compressed gas.  The driver of the delivery truck, who was wearing proper protective gear and managed to shut off the flow of the chemical from the truck to the storage tank, also suffered sulfur dioxide burns to his feet, according to the sheriff’s department.  About 225 people, 150 of them American Crystal employees and the rest contractors, were evacuated from the plant, according to the company. Emergency crews were present at the scene giving oxygen to those who were exposed, the company said in a press release.  Authorities still were investigating the leak and monitoring the plant late Wednesday. The Grand Forks hazardous materials team was called in to inspect and remove the hose from the truck, which still was leaking a small amount of sulfur dioxide into the air.  “American Crystal will conduct a full and thorough investigation,” Schweitzer said. “But it looks like all appropriate actions were taken to limit the amount of sulfur dioxide released, to evacuate our factory and to take the proper precautions so the event was minimized as much as possible.”  Schweitzer blamed the leak on an apparent hose malfunction, allowing a vapor cloud to be released. He said such an accident is rare.  “It is not a common occurrence,” Schweitzer said. “In the 13 years I have been working with American Crystal, I can’t remember something like this happening.”
June 14, 2008 Kiev

Kiev, 14 June: Sulphur dioxide leaked out at [chemical plant] Stirol Concern in Horlivka, Donetsk Region, at 0600 [0300 gmt] today during the launch after repairs of a facility to manufacture sulphuric acid, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency has learned from the press service of the territorial directorate of the state mining inspectorate in Donetsk Region.  A chemical cloud covered the territory of the state-owned coal mine Shakhta Oleksandr-Zakhid.  The press service said that 17 mine workers had complained they felt bad and had undergone a medical examination.  A total of 15 mine workers have been diagnosed as having poisoning and admitted to hospital.

June 6, 2008   NOWRA Chemical Manufacturers has been fined $100,000 in the Land and Environment Court over an acid spill.  The Land and Environment Court heard that Nowra Chemical Manufacturers Pty Ltd allowed 1700 litres of a sulphuric acid solution to escape from its premises in January last year.  The company admitted that during the early hours of the morning on January 19, 2007, 1700 litres of sulphuric acid solution leaked from an unbunded storage tank with a flange not suitable for storing sulphuric acid, located on the premises.  The court heard company employees hosed the acid down an on-site stormwater drain.  The acid solution mixed with tap water flowed to a nearby heavily vegetated stormwater easement.  The court found 5000 litres of the acid solution mixed with tap water were recovered from the easement.  The court found that the leak caused severe harm to common plant species within a 22-metre stretch of the stormwater easement.  The court also found there was the potential for greater harm, but this was ameliorated by the company’s prompt clean-up works.  It was noted the decision to store the acid in the unbunded tank represented a high level failure at the company.
May 31, 2008 Hull RESIDENTS in part of north Hull were urged to keep doors and windows closed after a chemical leak left a toxic plume over an industrial estate.  About 40 firefighters, some wearing chemical suits and breathing apparatus, worked to contain the concentrated sulphuric acid.  Crews from Humberside Fire and Rescue Service were called to the incident at Holmes Halls Tanners in Air Street, Wincolmlee, at about 9.30am yesterday.  A worker called the fire service after spotting smoke, caused by the acid reacting.  About 250 gallons of acid leaked from a ruptured 500-gallon cylinder.  Glenn Ramsden, of Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, said: “It's not dangerous, but there was an extremely unpleasant smell and for that reason people were asked to keep doors and windows closed.  “Fortunately for us it's not a densely populated area, which worked in our favour.  “We have been blowing the fumes out of the factory using fans.”  Sulphuric acid is used in the process of tanning leather.  It is highly toxic and can cause severe burns if in contact with skin or eyes.  Crews stemmed the flow of acid before applying lime or calcium carbonate to neutralise the acid.  No one from the firm was available for comment
May 26, 2008 Tanzania Reports from Tanzania say there was scare at the Dar es Salaam port when suspect cargo alleged to be carrying more than 12,000 metric tonnes of bright yellow sulfur, a highly toxic chemical, caught fire.  The chemicals, which arrived aboard a Cambodian shipping vessel, MV SALINA, were received by a Dar es Salaam-based company, Grindrod Tanzania Limited.  It is understood that some of the chemicals were also spilt while being transported by rail after being offloaded from the ship.  “The huge bulk of cargo of yellow sulfur in powdered form is highly toxic, highly hazardous and dangerous to human life, animals and environment”, said a court document filed by Dar es Salaam law firm, Sheikh’s Chambers of Advocates.  The document, a written statement of defense, was filed on behalf of the owner of MV SALINA after the company was sued at the High Court in Dar es Salaam by Chemical Initiatives (PTY) Limited, the South African owner of the chemicals, which is demanding a 2bn/- compensation for an alleged contamination and theft or loss of some of the cargo.  Official court documents quoted by a local daily, ThisDay say a total of 12,356.740 metric tonnes of bright yellow sulfur arrived in Dar es Salaam on March 14, this year, contrary to the country’s Industrial and Consumer Chemicals (Management and Control) Act Number 3 of 2003.  Contrary to Tanzanian laws and regulations on chemicals, the cargo of yellow sulfur was unloaded from the vessel without any special necessary measures being taken by the plaintiff’s agents, Ms Grindrod Tanzania Limited, to protect the stevedores and the environment from pollution”, says the statement from Sheikh’s Chambers of Advocates.  Advocate Hamida Sheikh, maintains that the chemicals, which are the main object in the suit, are highly hazardous and are described by Tanzanian laws as chemical wastes prohibited from being imported into Tanzania.  Section 43 (1) of the Industrial and Consumer Chemicals (Management and Control) Act states that “’No person shall be allowed to import chemical wastes in the country”.  But lawyers representing the ship owner maintain that the cargo was illegally imported into the country, hence the lawsuit in question was in fact asking the court to enforce an unlawful contract.  The chemicals, originating from the Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company of Saudi Arabia, were reportedly in transit to Zambia.
May 6, 2008 Makkah The Road Safety Administration (RSA) and the Civil Defense in Makkah have come under severe criticism for failing to take quick action to avert a possible environmental disaster when a truck leaking highly hazardous acid broke down close to the holy city on Saturday.  “The truck, which was leaking concentrated sulfuric acid, remained on the expressway a little away from the entrance to the holy city for 22 hours. It was neglected by the RSA and the Civil Defense, which are the bodies responsible for dealing with such situations,” said Fahd Al-Turkistani, a chemical expert and environmental activist.  The truck, which broke down at about 10 p.m. on Saturday, was only noticed around 8 p.m. the next day by the RSA, which called the Civil Defense. It was then taken to a safe place away from the road and its load was transferred into another truck.  The Civil Defense also used alkaline substances to neutralize the leaked acid. This operation took about 16 hours, according to a spokesman for the Civil Defense.  The truck was taking the acid from a Dammam factory to a desalination plant in Jeddah. When it arrived in Jeddah, the plant refused to take delivery after a leak in the truck’s tank was discovered.  On its return to Dammam, the truck broke down and the acid began leaking on the road. It was then that the driver requested his company in Dammam to send another truck to take back the cargo.  “The truck’s owner should be held accountable for not taking necessary precautions. The desalination plant also deserves to be penalized for its irresponsible handling of the situation,” said Al-Turkistani. “The company should have informed the police of the situation and should not have permitted the driver to take the toxic cargo all the way back to Dammam in a leaking truck,” he added.  Al-Turkistani said he was surprised by the response of the Chemical Safety Wing at the Presidency for Metereology and Environment when he asked it to send a truck to transfer the acid.  “Some officials at the presidency asked me who would pay the cost of the truck, instead of sending emergency help,” said Al-Turkistani.  On the other hand, Lt. Col. Ali Al-Muntasheri, official spokesman for the Makkah Civil Defense, said his department responded quickly when the truck was discovered.  He said firefighters neutralized the leaked acid and moved the truck to a safe place before transferring its content to another truck, he said.
May 1, 2008 Londonerry, UK Traffic in the Altnagelvin area of Londonderry has been brought to a standstill after a tanker containing sulphuric acid overturned.  All approach roads to Altnagelvin roundabout are closed and police have advised motorists to find alternative routes and avoid the area if possible.  A police spokesman said there were no reports of any injuries.
March 31, 2008 Northfield, Minnesota

A derailment of 28 cars on a Union Pacific Corp. (UNP) freight train near Northfield resulted in a leak of sulfuric acid.  Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said the derailment occurred near a residential area at about 2 a.m. Monday.  No injuries were reported from the derailment and no evacuations had been ordered as of 6 a.m.  The acid was leaking slowly from only one tanker car.
Twenty-eight of 104 cars on the train left the track.  Emergency crews poured lime on the spilled acid to neutralize it and built an earthen dam to contain it.  An environmental crew also monitored air quality and tested the soil.  Workers planned to pump out the tanker and remove the sulfuric acid in trucks.  The railroad didn't know how much sulfuric acid spilled or exactly how much the tanker contained, but the tanker held up to 14,000 gallons. A second derailed car holding sulfuric acid did not leak.

Follow-up

Car positioning appears to be what caused a 28-car train derailment in Northfield, according to a railroad official.  “The derailment at Northfield on March 31 was determined to have been caused by the way the various train cars were placed or positioned in the train makeup — the way the loaded cars and empty cars were positioned in the train,” said Mark Davis, spokesman for Union Pacific.  The 104-car train headed southbound on its way to North Platte, Neb., derailed north of Greenvale Avenue around 2 a.m. March 31, causing a tanker to leak about 655 gallons of sulfuric acid. There were no injuries nor evacuations, although Davis said he was checking to see if any residents had filed claims with the railroad of suffering poor health as a result of the derailment.  Other than the tanker that was half full with sulfuric acid and another tanker that held peanut oil, the rest of the train’s cars were either empty or carrying stick lumber, Davis said immediately after the derailment.  Davis said Friday in an e-mail that the railroad is running simulations to determine exactly how the makeup of the cars contributed to the wreck. Once they have that information, Davis said, they’ll review it with all employees to ensure proper loading and empty car placement. Federal law also requires that the railroad file a report on its findings to the Federal Railroad Administration.  “An example of how train makeup can contribute to a derailment — if there are too many empty cars in front of heavy-loaded cars as the train is coming to a stop, the heavy cars’ weight will ‘push’ an empty car off the track,” Davis said.  The FRA’s report on the derailment is pending, according to its Web site. At the time of the derailment, FRA spokesman Steven Kulm said it would be months before its investigators would complete their report.

February 20, 2008 Pascagoula, Mississippi Gases were released on site at a sulfuric acid plant Wednesday when a weld near the top of a converter vessel suddenly ruptured, Mississippi Phosphates Corporation said.   Two employees received burns as a result of the accident and both were released after receiving treatment at local facilities, the company said.  The plant is one of two sulfuric acid facilities operated by Mississippi Phosphates at its diammonium phosphate, or DAP, fertilizer facility in Pascagoula.  The company said it continues to conduct air monitoring and had found no detectable concentration of gas or odor outside its facility.  "On-site gas levels fall below threshold levels of concern," the company said in a statement. "All appropriate governmental authorities and agencies have been notified and the group continues to closely monitor what appears to be an improving situation."  The cause of the apparent weld failure and the extent of damage to the plant are being investigated, the company said.  Representatives of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality were sent to the plant.  In January, the company had said that one of its 1,500 ton-per-day sulfuric acid plants would be down for several weeks while additional repairs were made to a boiler. It said the boiler had suffered a major failure in July of last year and that initial repairs had been after repairs. At the time Mississippi Phosphates blamed the problem on the contractor that had done the work.
February 13, 2008 China

Chinese tanker truck carrying more than 30 metric tons of sulphuric acid has crashed in southwest China, spilling its load into a river and causing "serious pollution," state media said on Wednesday.  The accident occurred on Tuesday, the last day of the Lunar New Year holiday, when the truck ran into the guard rail on a highway linking Anning and Chuxiong in the mountainous province of Yunnan, Xinhua news agency said.  "Some of the sulphuric acid has flown into a roadside river and has caused serious pollution. Many fish were killed," Xinhua said.  No human casualties were reported, but up to 1,000 vehicles were stranded along a section of the highway, it said.  "The government has sent for another truck to load the sulphuric acid still in the truck," Xinhua said. It did not say if the spill had affected any drinking water supplies.

February 4, 2008 Richmond County, Georgia A leaking train car caused a road to shut down in south Richmond County.  The leak was found in the morning in a tank car containing sulfur trioxide. The leak stopped on its own.  As a precaution, Goshen Industrial Boulevard was been shut down until DuPont representatives arrive around 3 p.m. today to clean up the spill. The tank car is owned by DuPont.  At the time, no one was in danger from the spill. They hope to have the leak patched by nightfall.  The spill occured on a rail line owned by Norfolk Southern.
January 24, 2008 China Sulfuric acid leaked into the water supply from a chemical factory in central China, poisoning at least 26 villagers who were admitted to hospital.  Authorities said the victims had nausea and swollen faces.  An underground pipe broke at the factory - part of the Xiaoping coal mine complex in Banqiao town in Hunan province's Chenxi county - causing the chemical leak into groundwater supplies, said Yang Changyou of the Chenxi information office.  "There are 26 people seriously poisoned and hospitalised, and more than 200 villagers are receiving free medical check-ups, but no one died in the accident," Yang said.  The government was providing free bottled water and extra water supplies from four fire engines, he said, adding that authorities were trying to track and contain the leak.  The Beijing News said the number of poisoning cases could reach 1,000, citing the hospital and relatives of those sickened by the polluted water.  That estimate could not be immediately confirmed.
January 23, 2008 Bristol, Virginia Traffic on Interstate 81 began moving normally at about 8:15 p.m. Thursday, some 26 hours after a two-truck crash brought the artery to a standstill.  Both north- and southbound lanes first were closed about 6 p.m. Wednesday when a tanker carrying sulfuric acid ground to a stop in the grassy median after being struck by another tractor-trailer that crossed from the northbound lanes.  The tanker and its caustic cargo remained there, at the 8.7 mile marker, until another tanker could be brought to the scene and the acid could be safely pumped into it Thursday. Officials feared moving the wrecked tanker because its exterior was damaged, said Sgt. Michael Conroy of the Virginia State Police.  "They had trouble finding a tanker to transfer the load. You might think they’re all alike, but they have different insulation and the first one they located was not properly insulated. It’s a very specialized product," Conroy said of the acid cargo.  One lane on both the north- and southbound sides was opened Thursday morning as authorities waited for the second tanker to arrive from Alabama, Conroy said.  A tanker from Texas-based FSTI arrived about 1:45 p.m., and contract environmental workers wearing green biohazard suits and face shields began the process of hooking up hoses and a pump to transfer the acid.  After testing revealed a small leak in the system, repairs were made and the process to off-load about 2,400 gallons of the acid got under way.  Because the acid is so flammable and so dangerous, authorities again closed both sides of the interstate between 4 and 5 p.m., said Michelle Earl of the Virginia Department of Transportation.
January 19, 2008  

No one was injured when a rail car carrying sulfuric acid came off the tracks at GAC Chemical Corp. and released a small amount of the chemical.  The accident occurred while GAC was taking delivery of four or five carloads of sulfuric acid that came in on the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway. The car derailed due to human error, he said, and came to a rest leaning at a 45-degree angle.   The car's connection to the rest of the train prevented the rail car from tipping completely over.  Once the crane arrived, Dittmeier said the tipped car was hoisted and loaded onto an empty car, so it would remain upright. The process took between two and three hours, he said, to give GAC personnel time to inspect the tracks and rail car for any damages. Dittmeier said there appeared to be no damage to either. Then, the crane was used again to reset the car onto the track.  When the car was being transferred the last time, the repositioning caused it to "burp," according to Dittmeier. This caused about 10 gallons of sulfuric acid to spill onto the top of the railcar, a problem that was easily contained.

January 13, 2008 Kunnming, Yunnan Province, China Five people were killed and 32 injured when an explosion ripped through a chemical factory in southwestern China's Yunnan province on Sunday.  Two people remain missing after the early morning explosion at a sulphuric acid plant in the provincial capital of Kunnming ignited a large fire on the factory premises, Xinhua news agency said.  The injured had been hospitalized and were out of danger. An official with the city's publicity office told Xinhua that seven seriously injured people were in critical condition.  Rescuers were searching for the missing, according to a notice issued by the city government of Kunming.  "Rescuers said the survival chances for the two missing are very slim," said an official who declined to give his name.  The explosion happened at a sulphuric acid plant under the state-run Yuntianhua International Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., a leading chemical fertilizer producer in China, at 3:52 a.m. Sunday and caused a big fire.  Sulphur powder exploded and caused the fire when workers were loading them in front of a store house, said investigators from the city's work safety administration.  The fire was put out at around 8:00 a.m. Sunday. Air quality in the neighborhood of the sulphuric acid plant, which is less than 40 kilometers from the downtown area of Kunming, remained normal, according to the city's environment protection bureau.  On Sunday afternoon, a great deal of sulphur powder could still be seen in the messy warehouse when policemen with masks and helmets were busy investigating at the scene.   Wang Xiaoguang, vice mayor of Kunming, arrived at the site to supervise the rescue operation and told the city's factories to carry out thorough safety examinations.  The Kunming city government had set up a task force to investigate into cause of the accident and to deal with the aftermath, said Wang.  Located at the Haikou town in Xishan District in western part of Kunming, the sulphuric acid plant is run by the Yunnan Sanhuan Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Yuntianhua International Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., and it has more than 1,000 employees.  According to Huang Helong, an official with the Yunnan Sanhuan Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., all the victims were workers of the plant.  Huang said the rescue operation had almost finished and the whereabouts of the two missing were still unknown.  Founded in the 1970s, the sulphuric acid plant, which covers more than 50 hectares, is designed to produce 1.39 million tons of sulphuric acid and 1.2 million tons of phosphate sulfate fertilizer annually.
December 31, 2007 Franklin, Virginia Outside International Paper in Franklin, steam filled the air, but it's what you couldn't see that had hazmat teams concerned Monday night. Just outside the plant a train car was leaking sulfuric acid.  "They're thinking it got over pressurized," said Chief Chris Carr of the Carrsville Volunteer Fire Department.  Chief Carr was just one of many people stationed at a nearby staging area, in case their help was needed.  "They have a team in place at the mill for these types of situations. They basically handle all of them, but being this one was just outside the plant when it happened we were called in," said Chief Carr.  Chief Carr says the on-site hazmat team was able to handle the spill, which turned out to be minor. He says mill employees were able to contain the spill which posed no threat to the public.  "Very little risk to people in the area or to workers, either one," said Chief Carr.  He says, had their been any serious risk, crews would have worked to neutralize the acid. Instead they decided to move the car inside the plant and off load what was left.
December 31, 2007 Rialto, California No evacuations were ordered and no roads were closed Monday after a small amount of sulfuric acid leaked from a Union Pacific Railroad tanker car in Rialto, officials reported.  Union Pacific spokesman James Barnes said the acid -- a thick goop which sticks to surfaces -- never touched the ground.  The leaked acid, which was estimated at 5 gallons, was cleaned up within hours of the initial 9 a.m. report.  A Rialto Fire Department report said the leak resulted from mechanical failure involving a valve at the top of the tanker car.  Repairs were made and the tanker was back in service without incident by 1 p.m., the news release said.  After the leak was reported, hazardous-material crews from Union Pacific and the Rialto Fire Department responded to Union Pacific's West Colton Classification Yard near Slover Avenue.  Crews entered the area wearing protective chemical gear, Rialto fire Capt. Brian Park said.  Before assessing the damage, crews determined whether the damaged car could be repaired or if they needed to transfer the estimated 130,000 gallons of sulfuric acid to a second tanker car.
December 27, 2007 Pevely, Missouri A train derailment in Pevely involving sulfuric acid transport cars left cleanup workers scrambling Thursday.  The incident occurred Wednesday at about 9:30 p.m. when four cars containing the acid plunged down an embankment near the Dow Chemical Company plant on Route Z.  Two cars not carrying acid were also damaged.  No one was injured, and no chemicals leaked from the cars despite a drop of roughly 100 feet.  No evacuation was necessary.  The cause of the derailment is unknown.  "It's still under investigation," said Mark Davis, spokesman for Union Pacific Railroad.   Officials with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) were contacted in the aftermath of the derailment following concerns about a possible chemical leak into a ravine at the scene of the incident.  A DNR environmental emergency response worker was called to the scene along with officials from neighboring fire and police departments and the Jefferson County Hazardous Material Team.  Cleaning crews transferred sulfuric acid from damaged cars into tank cars as part of the cleanup process.  Davis said the rail cars were able to withstand such a drop thanks to their solid build.  "It's really a testament to today's tank car design," he said. "We work with car manufacturers on design and safety, and to have this type of incident with no leak really punctuates that."  Davis said the train, more than 40 cars in length, travels between Ste. Genevieve County and the city of St. Louis.  Rosemarie Rung, spokeswoman for Dow Chemical, said the derailment caused only minor disruption to the plant.  "Only a little, because of the increased traffic," she said. "It's nothing we can't recover from. There's no spillage."
December 14, 2007 Detroit , Michigan

A truck spilled 550 gallons of chemicals in Fraser this afternoon, closing Masonic Boulevard, between Groesbeck Highway and Utica Roads.   Local businesses were evacuated and crews conducted a total cleanup of the area.  Fraser Public Safety officers responded to a call around 3:30 p.m. Friday of a vacuum truck containing about 550 gallons of sulfuric and nitric acid developing a leak near one of its valves.  The Clinton Township hazardous materials team arrived on the scene and determined all of the truck's contents had emptied, some of which ran off the road and into a nearby sewer and drain.  No one was injured in the incident.  

December 10, 2007 Houston, Texas A truck driver was burned on more than 90 percent of his body Saturday in a work-related accident.  The incident happened around 12:53 p.m. at the Brazos Valley Energy Power Plant at 3440 Lockwood Road.   According to the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office, an off-loading hose burst during loading, spilling 500 gallons of 93 percent sulfuric acid.  Vincent Lewis, 44, was flown by Life Flight to Memorial Hermann Hospital and was admitted to the burn unit. Officials said he's in stable condition.  A power plant worker, 31-year-old Allen Perez, was also burned but not as badly. He was transported by EMS to Oak Bend Hospital.
November 27, 2007 Mount Laurel, New Jersey A tanker truck leaking sulfuric acid caused traffic problems along Route 73.  Crews worked to contain the spill.  Police said the leak was reported by a motorist around 7:20 a.m. who saw the truck as it exited I-295.  Officers stopped the truck at the intersection of 73 and Church Road. They contacted the Burlington County Hazardous Material Response team.  Route 73 was partially closed for nearly two hours as crews worked to contain and clean the leak. Police said there were no evacuations and no injuries.
November 11, 2007 Kerch Strait, Black Sea A storm sank two vessels, the Volnogorsk and the Nakhichevan, which were each carrying 2,000 tons of sulphur.

Update December 14, 2007 - European Commission's Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC) presents experts' report on oil spill in Kerch Strait It concluded that the sunken sulphur did not pose an immediate acute risk to the environment but recommended that the sunken ships with sulphur on board be salvaged so that the sulphur can be appropriately processed.

November 5, 2007 Fresno, California A truck carrying sulphuric acid rolled over while entering Highway 168 on an onramp.  It was unclear if the truck was traveling at an unsafe speed or if the load shifted. The truck rolled over and blocked the lanes of traffic.  People on the scene tried to help the truck’s driver who was trapped inside the cab before CHP arrived. Firefighters sawed open the twisted metal to reach the driver who was in critical condition. The driver was airlifted to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno.  Since the tanker truck was full of sulfuric acid when it crashed, authorities had to bring another truck to pump out the acid before they could clean up the crash site.  The front of the truck was crushed but the tank remained intact.
October 19, 2007 Hughenden, Queensland, Australia

A road train carrying three trailers of sulphuric acid overturned near Hughenden, in central north Queensland.  The Flinders Highway was closed after the eastbound road train crashed about 30km east of Hughenden.  Police said the road train was passing a truck and sedan travelling in the opposite direction when its third trailer veered into a ditch before swerving across the road and overturning.  None of the sulphuric acid was spilt in the accident and there were no other environmental concerns.  No one was injured in the accident.

October 12, 2007 Syracuse, New York About 1,000 gallons of sulfuric acid spilled at the Bristol-Myers Squibb plant.  The spill traveled across the property eventually flowing into a sewer.  The sewer is a closed sewer on the site so no acid ever left the property.  The acid was neutralized while in the sewer by an outside contractor.  The acid is used to treat boiler water.
October 10, 2007 McCoole, Maryland Allegany County’s Hazardous Incident Response Team and other emergency personnel responded to the Crooks Avenue area late Wednesday morning when a tanker was reportedly leaking sulfuric acid from an exterior hose of the rig.  Maryland State Police also responded to incident that shut down Crooks Avenue, which is located off McMullen Highway near state Route 135.  The chemical leak, which was first reported to the Allegany County 911 Joint Communications Division at 11:16 a.m., prompted McCoole Volunteer Fire Company to the scene along with State Highway Administration personnel. The Maryland Department of the Environment was also notified of the emergency.  Initial reports indicated an “exterior hose” was leaking the sulfuric acid and the driver detected the leak but was unable to shut it off. The tanker was reportedly parked on the side of the road at Crooks Avenue when the incident began.  Early Wednesday afternoon, no information was available concerning the amount of acid that had leaked from the tanker or the rate at which it was reportedly leaking.
October 9, 2007 Fairland, Indiana A collision between two tractor trailers resulted in a sulphuric acid leak from the lead trailer.  A tractor trailer hauling sulphuric acid was rear-ended as it slowed to leave an exit ramp.  The collision caused heavy damage to the rear of the trailer damaging a valve allowing sulphuric acid to leak out.  A spill recovery team was able to contain the leak to a small area.
October 2, 2007 Taft, California

A woman crashes into a tank causing an acid spill near Taft.  A hazmat crew was called out after the vehicle had put a four inch gash into the side of a tank carrying sulfuric acid.  The acid was coming out at a slow rate, but did cause a small puddle.  Hazmat determined there was no immediate threat so now it's up to the owner of the land to clean up the mess.  Sulfuric acid is often used in water that farmers use to irrigate.

September 17, 2007 India The accident involving a tanker lorry, a mini-lorry and a cyclist at Collectorate Junction in which the cyclist was killed, has more than what meets the eye.  The ten-wheeler lorry was carrying highly-concentrated sulphuric acid, the spillage of which would have been disastrous.  It would have caused harmed human lives.  It would have led to groundwater getting polluted in many areas.  Luckily, there was no spillage though the huge lorry fell on its side into a road-side ditch.  Personnel from the FACT arrived at the spot to prevent spillage. Deputy Transport Commissioner M.N. Prabhakaran said drivers of most tanker lorries were unaware of the forces acting on the vehicle when their liquid consignment moves laterally and is thrust towards the front of the tank, when the brake is applied. Lorries carrying petroleum products have compartments within the tank, whereas many lorries carrying acids and chemicals do not have such partitions.  Any application of brake, negotiating a sharp curve at high speeds or sudden change of lane, will result in the driver losing control of the vehicle. Wednesday’s incident saw the lorry crash into a median and a mini-lorry before overturning, which shows that the driver did not slow down at all at the busy junction.  Mr. Prabhakaran said the lorry was 25-years-old which shows that it was not fit to carry such a substance. “We will soon direct the factories and companies that manufacture chemicals, acids and other inflammable substances to entrust their transportation with firms having a fleet of modern tanker lorries. In addition, the drivers and cleaners have to be made aware of the nature (and implications, in case of accidents) of the consignment,” Mr. Prabhakaran said.
August 28, 2007 Louisiana

Louisiana Highway 520 in Claiborne Parish was shut down this morning after a truck hauling sulfuric acid wrecked.  The spill occurred about 1 a.m., half a mile south of the Louisiana 161 intersection in the north part of the parish, State Police said.  There were no homes in the immediate vicinity of the wreck and no one was evacuated, State Police said.

August 28, 2007 Pocatello, Idaho A worker at J.R. Simplot's Don Plant has died of burns from an accident at the fertilizer plant in Pocatello.  Company officials say 53-year-old Frank Rowberry was sprayed with molten sulfur as he inspected a clogged pipeline on Tuesday. The sulfur caught fire, and he was rushed the University of Utah Burn Center in Salt Lake City with burns over more than two-thirds of his body.  A plant spokesman, Rick Phillips, says the company received word Thursday that Rowberry had died the previous night.  Simplot and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating, partly to determine why the sulfur caught fire. 
Frank Rowberry was a maintenance worker who was doing a routine part of his job Tuesday afternoon, unloading sulfur from railcars and working on a clogged pipe when the sulfur suddenly ignited lighting Rowberry on fire.  Officials say Rowberry was wearing the plant's required protective gear but was burned on more than 50 percent of his body.
August 21, 2007 South Africa A Durban-based transport company faces a clean-up bill of millions after the chemical spill on the N1 in Centurion this week - and damages claims from drivers whose vehicles were damaged after the spill.  A Warden Cartage tanker transporting a solution of 98 percent sulphuric acid overturned near the John Vorster Drive off-ramp on he N1 south at about 3.30pmIt lost about 10 000 litres of its load.  No one was injured in the incident, but there have been scores of reports from motorists whose vehicles were damaged by the corrosive liquid.  These vehicles had driven over the chemical on the road before emergency workers could cordon off the areaTshwane emergency services spokesperson Johan Pieterse said their control room received dozens of calls from vehicle owners complaining that their tyres, wheels and bodywork had been corroded by the acid.

South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) N1 route manager Tommy Bedford said the clean-up operation cost about R120 000.  The cost of the environmental clean-up of the soil on the side of the road will run into millions.  They have to remove the soil from the surface to a certain depth. Environmental officers will test the soil every second day until they are satisfied with that the clean-up had been successfulBedford said they were able to stop the chemical from reaching the nearby Sesmyl River.  Two chemical spill response companies ran the clean-up operation. The highway was closed for about 20 hours, which caused huge traffic problems. Vehicles were backed up as far as the R21 turn-off.  The highway was opened at about 11.30am on Wednesday.
August 19, 2007 Romney Traffic at U.S. 231 and Ind. 28 were rerouted after a semi-tanker leaked an estimated 100 gallons of sulfuric acidTraffic was rerouted through Tippecanoe County roads until the spill could be neutralized before the evening rains arrived to the areaThe incident started west of the intersection on Ind. 28 about 4:30 p.m.  The sulfuric acid exited through a valve on the tanker.  The valve appeared it did work like it was suppose toFor some reason, the tank built up pressure, whether it was the heat of the day, it leaked off some of the sulfuric acid but not any more.
August 17, 2007 Conroe, Texas Four rail cars at a chemical company in Conroe fell off the tracks.  The accident happened at Jefferson Chemical on FM 1485.  There are no residential areas nearby, but authorities say one of the cars leaked sulfuric acid.  No evacuations were called, and no injuries were reported
August 9, 2007 Riverdale Someone accidentally poured sulphuric acid onto a street, prompting a hazardous materials response this morning in Riverdale.  Fire crews were notified at 11:35 a.m. of the situation near the intersection of Halsted and 141st streets. Someone trying to clean out a barrel "inadvertently" poured a "minor amount" of the liquid acid on the pavement, Riverdale fire Lt. Chris Van Dyke said. The incident happened outside a rail yard building, he said.  A hazardous materials response team was called and the substance was cleaned up by 12:44 p.m., the lieutenant said.  The person, acting on behalf of the rail yard, had been trying to clean out the 55-gallon barrel, then rinsed it with water and poured it onto the pavement, he said.  The water reclamation district and public works department were notified, but no evacuations were necessary and no one was hurt.
August 4, 2007 Bangkok, Thailand More than 50 workers of a paper factory in Ang Thong province were rushed to a provincial hospital on Saturday after they inhaled contaminated gas released from a nearby textile factory.  After about an hour of treatment, the Ang Thong hospital discharged some 30 workers. The rest remain there.  Police investigators said villagers said bad smell came from Thai Reyor factory located nearby. But when they arrived at the scene, the factory stopped emitting the gas.  Department of Industrial Works said the smell resulted from leakage of sulphur dioxide, which happened after a blackout in the area. The blackout caused machines at the factory to operate with some problems.
August 1, 2007 Bakersfield, California An overnight fire was a cause for concern for Kern County and Bakersfield firefighters. A large fire ignited at the Hondo Chemical Plant just before midnight.  A hazardous chemical team was called to the scene to assist firefighters because the fire started inside some machinery that uses sulfur.   After the fire was out, firefighters had to stick around to water down the sulfur so it would not re-ignite.  Fire investigators say there was no need to evacuate any homes nearby because the sulfur would not harm anyone indoors.  The cause of the fire is under investigation. The Hondo plant lost $500,000 in damaged machinery due to the fire.
July 30, 2007 Timpson, Texas

A section of U. S. Highway 59 was shut down due to a hazardous chemical spill.  An 18 wheeler that was carrying about 40,000 pounds of sulfur, crashed into a stalled vehicle on US 59 in Timpson around 7:30 p. m. Monday.  The truck caught on fire and spilled its load all over the highway.  The initial danger was pretty high because of the fumes being emitted from the burning sulfur.  A couple of firemen had to be transported to the hospital due to exposure to sulphur dioxide.
 
The fire took more than four hours to put out.  The fire department initially used water on the fire which enhanced the fire.  A hazardous materials team had to use a special foam to get the flames under control.  The crash site was far enough away from homes that no evacuations were needed.

July 20, 2007 Rupert, Idaho

A fire at the J.R. Simplot Co. fertilizer plant at 200 W. 225 S. caused the evacuation of a 1-mile radius around the plant, as a deposit of sulfur was ignited.  The cause of the fire and extent of its damage were unknown.  East End, West End and Rupert fire departments responded to the fire.  About every 15 minutes, firefighters in two-man teams took turns scaling a ladder to reach the fire through a hole in the roof of one of the plant's buildings. By 7 p.m., the fire was mostly under control.

July 18, 2007 Virginia Virginia State Police say Interstate 95 southbound is closed at mile marker 138 in Stafford County because of a leaking truck.  HazMat crews were called to scene just before 1:00 p.m. Wednesday because the truck was carrying sulfuric acid.  Investigators say the truck was not involved in an accident.  What caused the leak remains unclear.
July 16, 2007 Atholville, New Brunswick Sulphur dioxide was mistakenly released into the air at a northern New Brunswick pulp mill, prompting an investigation by environment officials.  The incident Monday at the AV Cell pulp mill in Atholville started when a pipe that transports sulphur dioxide from a rail car to the mill broke.  The gas leaked for about 15 minutes before the problem was fixed.  "At this stage, the Department of Environment was on the scene [Tuesday] and they gathered as much information as possible," said Paul Fournier of the department.  Fournier said it's not clear how much of the gas was released Monday.  He said the next steps would involve AV Cell presenting the department with a report of the incident, and the department must do a study on what measures should be taken to minimize the risk of another incident.
June 15, 2007 Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

Nine people were treated and released from hospital following a gas leak at an Inco Ltd. acid plant in Greater Sudbury June 15.  Inco spokesperson Cory McPhee said the plant had a power interuption Thursday at 9:30 am which caused the SO2 (sulphur dioxide) leak into the atmosphere.  "Normally the plants shut down, but in this case one of the fans in the booster house kept going so there was gas sent out that shouldn't have been," said McPhee.  The acid plant is located inside Inco's smelter complex and is used to capture SO2 gas that would normally go up the Super Stack, and turn it into sulphuric acid.  Eight contractors and one Inco employee were sent to hospital after being exposed to the sulphur dioxide. Some were sent home for the day while others came back to work. The gas causes irritation in the throat and lungs.  It (gas) just dissipates  . . . they were able to address the problem but why it happened is still under investigation," said McPhee.  Inco has launched an internal investigation into the matter. McPhee said the company will "file a report of an unusual occurrence" to the Ministry of the Environment, which is standard procedure.

July 2, 2007 Camas, Washington

Part of Lake Road near WaferTech in Camas was closed for nearly two hours after a tanker truck spilled about a gallon of sulfuric acid onto the road.  The acid was contained and cleaned up with no runoff and no damage to the road.  Sulfuric acid is a byproduct of WaferTech's manufacturing process, during which silicon wafers are etched with circuitry to make computer chips. The company sells the acid to other manufacturers.  The spill, from a Chemical Transfer Company vehicle, may have been the result of an improperly secured hose, which had been used to drain the acid from WaferTech tanks into the truck.  The vehicle's driver stopped as soon as he realized the chemical had spilled, at about 1:30 p.m.  Southeast First Street was closed between WaferTech's west entrance and Northwest Friberg-Strunk Street until about 3:15 p.m., when cleanup efforts were complete.  The Camas Fire Department worked with WaferTech to neutralize the chemical and clean up the spill.  WaferTech will submit a full report to the state Department of Ecology, which may prompt further review by the agency.

June 29, 2007 Dallas County, Arkansas A tractor-trailer, carrying 40,000 pounds of sulfuric acid, overturned on Highway 9 in Dallas County Friday afternoon.  The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management says a small amount of sulfuric acid leaked from a gauge on the tanker and as a precaution seven homes were evacuated in the area three miles north of Princeton.  Families returned home Friday night.  The local coordinator from the Dallas County Office of Emergency Management, along with a Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) response unit offloaded the sulfuric acid.  No injuries have been reported.
June 28, 2007 Raleigh, North Carolina An accidental spill of sulfuric acid at a Raleigh chemical plant yesterday caused evacuations of three nearby schools for several hours.  In addition, local residents were told to stay indoors for part of the day.  The 3,000 gallon acid spill occurred at the Mallinckrodt Chemical facility located at 8801 Capital Boulevard.  Initially, a statement was issued by Division Chief Frank Warner with the Fire Department saying that the leak was "confined to the company's property and poses no threat to the general public."  However, later in the day, officials were concerned that potential rains could have a chemical interaction with the sulfuric acid, releasing a gas.  Due to those concerns, the city later asked residents who lived within a half mile radius of Mallinckrodt Chemicals including the Riverhaven Apartments complex to stay inside their homes.  Late in the day on Thursday, the Raleigh Fire Department Haz Mat units were able to clean up the spill and the city advised local residents that it was safe once again for them to go outdoors in the area.
June 22, 2007 Freeport, Texas A small explosion and fire at a sulfur plant caused no injuries and had no environmental impact.  At about 8:30 a.m., Freeport Fire Department personnel responded to a call at SF Sulfur Corporation.  Process overpressure blew out a vent on top of a building at the 13-acre complex and led to some spot sulfur fires.  Authorities reported no injuries, no impact to the ground or air and minor damage.  SF Sulfur crews contained the incident.  Two Freeport units responded and fire officials were on scene for about an hour.  SF Sulfur receives sulfur and grinds it for shipping. 
June 22, 2007 Marana, Arizona A tanker truck carrying sulfuric acid overturned on the Interstate 10 frontage road in Marana and caused the closure of the road for part of the morning and most of the afternoon.  The tanker did not leak.  The acid had to be pumped from the tanker to another truck before the wreck could be removed.  The truck was the only vehicle involved and the driver, its sole occupant, was not injured.   The truck overturned shortly before 10 a.m. about 1.5 miles west of West Moore Road.  Investigators have not determined what caused the truck to tip on the straight stretch of road.  The truck was traveling from Hayden to Red Rock.
June 20, 2007 Lake Park, Minnesota Authorities in Becker County say eight to ten cars of a westbound BNSF freight train derailed on the west side of Lake Park shortly before 3:30 pm.  Sheriff Tim Gordon said several dozen people were evacuated from some rural homes downwind of the site as a precaution because there are hazardous materials on the train.  Some of the cars contained ammonium nitrate, sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid.  It was not clear if anything is leaking.  The container cars are piled up on top of another making it difficult to get an accurate count of the cars or get into the wreckage.  No injuries were reported.
June 22, 2007 Florida A man was killed in an early morning accident causing southbound Interstate 75 in Florida to be shut down for several hours.  The left front tire blew out on the tanker which was traveling northbound on I-75.  The driver lost control and the truck struck the concrete barrier separating the northbound and southbound lanes.  The impact caused the tanker, which was filled with liquid sulfur, to become airborne and cross over into the southbound lanes of I-75.  The tanker skidded about 200 feet before hitting a UPS tractor trailer head on.  The UPS driver died from injuries received in the accident, according to the Berea Police Department.  The driver of the tanker was not injured.  The northbound lanes of I-75 remained open but the southbound lanes were closed to clean up the liquid sulfur spill.  The spill was contained and posed no threat to the public.  The clean-up, which is estimated to take six to 10 hours, wass being directed by Madison County EMA.
June 8, 2007 Philadelphia

The truck was traveling Northbound on I-476 (Blue Route) and began to exit to get onto I-76 (Schuylkill Expressway) when it overturned around 7:53 a.m.  Smoke was noticed coming from around the vehicle where the load had dumped onto the road and the shoulder of the road.  The smoke was actually corrosive sulpher dioxide gas.  The dry sulphur had apparently mixed with something else causing a massive chemical reaction.  Crews in full hazmat gear arrived.  At the crash scene, air samples showed gas concentrations 30 times the level that can cause respiratory distress.  Fortunately, the plume quickly dissipated.

May 9, 2007 Texas City

A sulfuric acid leak at the Dow plant Tuesday afternoon caused only a minor amount of damage and didn’t hurt anyone, officials said.  The leak at the plant in the 3300 block of Fifth Avenue South was small and contained by plant personnel.  A Level 1 alert was issued during the hour-long incident, which started about 1:15 p.m., reports show.  A Texas City Fire Department unit was dispatched to monitor the situation.

May 8, 2007 Texas City, USA

A sulfuric acid leak at the Dow plant caused only a minor amount of damage and no one was injured.  The leak at the plant in the 3300 block of Fifth Avenue South was small and contained by plant personnel.  A Level 1 alert was issued during the hour-long incident, which started about 1:15 p.m.  A Texas City Fire Department unit was dispatched to monitor the situation.

May 3, 2007 Houston, TX, USA A man had to be transported to the hospital after breathing in sulfur fumes at the Arkema Plant.  The plant manager said the truck driver was unloading molten sulfur when he was overcome.  No one else was affected.
April 25, 2007 Kingsport, VA, USA A cylinder containing sulfur-dioxide burst on Interstate 26 in Kingsport.  Crews got the call around 9 a.m. Wednesday morning.  A 150-pound cylinder containing the substance came loose from a tractor trailer.  A car did run through the vapor, which resulted in two people going to the hospital.  A firefighter also had to be treated for exposure.  Crews re-sealed the leaking cylinder in a vacant area.
April 18, 2007 Xifeng, Guizhou province, China A sulphur dioxide leak at a chemical fertiliser plant in southwestern China has put about 140 students and teachers in hospital with respiratory problems.  Five teachers and more than130 students from three schools reported respiratory problems and have been sent to a local hospital.  A local government official says heavy fog at the time of the leak stopped the gas dispersing.  Authorities are investigating the cause of the leak.
April 17, 2007 Valemount, British Columbia At around 2:30 p.m. a CN sulphur train headed to Vancouver was reported to have sulphur smoldering.  There were no injuries and no danger associated with the smoldering product.  Valemount’s volunteer fire department responded to a call for help from CN Rail.  CN had trouble getting through to the dispatch centre in Prince George, so they called it into the local police, who got in touch with local volunteer fire chief.  The train was directed to stop north of town on Loseth Road by Crooked Creek because there was a good place to draw water from.
April 16, 2007 Cornwall, Ontario, Canada A rollover involving a truck carrying sulfuric acid knotted up traffic along Highway 138.  Police said the weather played a factor in causing.  At around 5:30 a.m., a tractor-trailer heading south on Highway 138 ended up in the ditch just north of Sand Road.  The driver of the vehicle was not injured.  Traffic was reduced to one lane as a long line of emergency vehicles, including Cornwall's hazardous materials unit and officials with the Ministry of the Environment, tried to prevent the acid from spilling.  Ultimately, they were successful in preventing the spill.
April 14, 2007 San Roque, Spain The Cepsa refinery in the San Roque area was at the centre of further controversy after a major leak of sulphur was registered.  The incident took place between seven and eight on Saturday evening when a technical fault was experienced at the petro-chemical plant causing a high level of sulphur dioxide to be released.  Although the company has claimed that there was no risk to the surrounding population, over 32 emergency calls were received by the Spanish 112 emergency services, with reports of over 2,000 residents in the area affected by the high level contamination.  The incident saw a larger than normal release of smoke, as well as an increase in the smells surrounding the plants, causing some discomfort to residents in the area.
March 30, 2007 Murarrie, Queensland, Australia A man was sprayed in the face with sulphuric acid and three others suffered minor burns when a pipeline ruptured at the Goodman Fielder manufacturing plant in Murarrie about 1.30pm.  The man, a subcontractor, had been pumping acid from a holding tank into a truck to allow for routine maintenance when the incident occurred.  Somehow in that process we believe a valve was opened at the incorrect time...and there was a pressure build up that there shouldn't have been.  He was sprayed over his back, neck, arms and face and was immediately put into the emergency safety shower.  A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said the man had been rushed to the Royal Brisbane Hospital in a critical condition, but the full extent of his injuries is not yet known.  The others were taken to the Mater Hospital suffering a combination of acid burns and vapour inhalation.  Firefighters remained at the scene for some time to clean up the sulphuric acid, which is used at the factory for cleaning.
March 30, 2007 Englehart, Ontario Two dozen cars of an Ontario Northland train jumped the tracks about 16 kilometres north of EnglehartNine cars carrying sulphuric acid went off the tracks.  One of the cars spilled its entire contents, estimated to be about 100 tonnes, and four cars were still leaking acid into the Blanche River on the next day.  Residents along a section of river in Northern Ontario have been advised not to use its waterOntario Environment Ministry officials are taking water samples and have arranged for lime to be added upstream of the spill site to counter the effects of the acid.
March 29, 2007 Godmanchester, Quebec A freight train derailment occurred in Godmanchester, about 60 kilometres southwest of Montreal.  Amongst the derailed cars were three sulphuric acid tank cars.  There were no leaks, no injuries and no evacuation.  The cars left the track on the outskirts of Huntingdon about 1 p.m.  The Canadian National Railway train was being operated by a CN crew on track owned by CSX Transportation.  Investigators of the federal Transportation Safety Board are assessing whether there will be a need for an in-depth investigation.
March 26, 2007 Columbus, Ohio A train derailment resulted in seven tank cars derailing on a South Side railroad track.  A tank car containing molten sulfur leaked less than a gallon of sulphur onto the railroad ties.  No one was injured.  The derailment was most likely caused by a broken rail or a broken wheel on the train.  The cause is under investigation.  Another tank car containing molten sulfur, didn't spill anything. The molten sulfur was cleaned up by a hazardous-materials crew.
March 26, 2007 Bainbridge, Georgia The Georgia Gulf Sulphur plant located at 1300 Spring Creek Road sustained heavy damage due to a fire at the plant.  The exact cause of the fire was not immediately known but it is suspected that something metal created a spark, which in turn caused dust associated with sulfur being stored at the plant to explode.  Flames burst through the side of a large building used to mix and grind the sulfur and quickly spread to the roof of an adjacent storage building and office.  The fire began at approximately 2 p.m. and was not fully controlled until about 4 p.m. Almost two dozen firefighters and more than eight fire trucks responded to the scene.
March 26, 2007 Bradenton, Florida Hazardous material crews contained a 30 gallon spill of sulphuric acid at Norfolk Southern’s Brosnan Yard.  The spill was considered relatively minor because the location was a railyard and not a populated area.  There was indication the acid leaked from a pressure valve on a rail car.
March 17, 2007 Newark, New Jersey

An overturned tractor-trailer near Newark early today spilled diesel fuel on the highway and caused lane closures along I-95 well into the afternoon.  Initially police reported that sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid had spilled from the truck, but later the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control determined that it was just fuel from the truck that leaked.  The trailer also contained numerous individual containers of hydrofluoric acid, which was of concern due to the high flammability of the chemical.

March 15, 2007 Tucson, Arizona

A semi-truck drove into a passenger car, which became lodged under the trailer.  The collision then ruptured an acid load in the truck and started a fire.  Three people in the passenger vehicle suffered serious injuries with one listed in critical condition.  The truck driver, as well as three firefighters and four DPS officers, were treated for inhalation problems.  The truck was carrying 1,500 pounds of sulfuric acid, phosphorus acid and sodium hydroxide.

February 28, 2007 Burley, Idaho

Two 55-gallon drums of sulfuric acid punctured when a truck overturned on Interstate 84 near the southern Idaho town of Burley, closing the highway for about three hours.  Police say the westbound tractor-trailer tipped over on a cloverleaf.  An unspecified amount of sulfuric acid spilled after the accident and the westbound lane was closed.  A state-contracted crew cleaned up the spill after officials with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Homeland Security determined the leak had stopped.

February 26, 2007 Longview, Washington

A sulfuric acid leak at Weyerhaeuser's main Longview plant shot the liquid 45 feet in the air after a valve malfunctioned while a truck was unloading acid.  The leak occurred in a decontamination area and a crew of 15 hazard management workers were nearby to clean the spill up within three hours time.  No one was injured.  The decontamination area had a built-in shower, which made the clean-up easier.

February 23, 2007

Ogden, Arkansas

A retired Bastrop Police Department officer is in stable condition in an Arkansas hospital after he was injured when the truck he was driving overturned in southwest Arkansas, spilling sulfuric acid onto the roadside.  Chris Branum, 55, was driving south along U.S. 71 near Ogden, Ark., just after 1 p.m. on Feb. 17 when he apparently lost control of the tanker truck he was driving. A spokesman with Arkansas State Police Troop G headquarters said Branum's skidded almost 150 before it entered the median, where it traveled another 80 feet before it overturned.  According to a story published by the Texarkana Gazette, rescue crews arrived on the scene but were initially kept away from the scene because of the leaking sulfuric acid.  Branum was transported to CHRISTUS St. Michael Health Center in Texarkana and treated for lung and head injuries. On Wednesday, he was reported in stable condition.  The State Police spokesman said no citations were issued following the wreck.

February 18, 2007 Ogden, Arkansas

While sulfuric acid was leaking from a ruptured valve on an overturned tanker truck Saturday, the driver was rescued by emergency crews and passing motorists on U.S. Highway 71.  Branum was southbound on U.S. Highway 71 about a mile south of Ogden near the Arkansas Highway Police weigh station when the accident happened.  Authorities say Branum lost control of the rig as he entered a curve in the highway. The truck is owned by Phoenix Transport. Investigators also say gusty west winds may have contributed to Branum losing control of the tanker truck, which was loaded with sulfuric acid.  Firefighters used shovels to dig a trench to direct the flowing acid to a culvert. They also used a smoke ejector fan to blow possible fumes away from the firefighters who were shoveling the dirt.  A backhoe was later used to dig a deeper trench to contain the acid.

February 17, 2007 Mumbai, India The Mumbai-Goa highway had to be closed down for over five hours after a tanker carrying a chemical substance collided with a Maruti car near Panvel early Friday morning.  The tanker overturned in the process and spilled its contents onto the highway.  The chemical compound (oleum), which the tanker was carrying, then spread over a radius of five km causing such a dense fog that motorists lost visibility even at an arm’s length.  The police had to then step in and close down the highway for a seven-km stretch until the fumes settled down and the area was cleared.
February 9, 2007 Melbourne, Australia A cloud of sulphur dioxide leaked from the Air Liquide plant in Berkshire Road, North Sunshine, just before 6.30am.  About 100 people were evacuated and 15 treated by paramedics after a potentially fatal toxic cloud leaked from a plant in a Melbourne suburb.  Fifteen people needed medical treatment and residents were told to stay indoors at the height of the drama in North Sunshine.  Police have urged residents south of Berkshire Road, Sunshine North, to stay indoors, shut their windows and turn off external air conditioners.  Police spokesman Senior Constable Adam West said the sulphur dioxide spill caused "agitation and aggravation" to people in the immediate area.  Metropolitan Ambulance spokesman Phil Cullen said 15 people - residents and local workers - were treated for symptoms including shortness of breath.
February 6, 2007 Paulsboro, New Jersey

Sulphur dioxide was accidentally accidentally released into the air and the gas seeped into Paulsboro High School during first period, causing headaches, feelings of nausea and some instances of vomiting in as many as 15 students and a handful of faculty members.  Valero officials tested the interior of the high school after the release measuring sulfur dioxide at levels between zero and five parts per 1 million parts of air.  The smell of rotten eggs lingered in Paulsboro until the late afternoon, almost disappearing entirely by 4 p.m.

January 26, 2007 Tillsonburg, Ontario

A chemical spill in Tillsonburg caused an evacuation, and sent 7 people to hospital.  At around noon a chemical spill of Sulphur Dioxide happened at Guardian Industries.  Two employees were taken to hospital, were treated and released, five other also went to the hospital were found not to have suffered any effects.  Neighboring businesses and six homes were also evacuated.  Roads in the immediate area were closed for several hours.  The Tillsonburg Emergency Control Group was activated but an emergency was not declared.  The Spills Action Centre was contacted as well as the chemical supplier have dealt with the clean up.

January 25, 2007 La Porte, Texas

A gas cloud from the DuPont plant located at 12501 Strang Road forced officials to issue a shelter-in-place and shut down a freeway.  Officials said oleum was released from the unit that produces sulfuric acid.  "We had an upset in that process. As a result, we vented a significant amount of sulfuric acid mist," said Ken Martin, DuPont's safety supervisor.  Oleum came out of a 300-foot stack for about 10 minutes.  The unit was shut down and the release was stopped but not until after a large cloud covered the area.  "The cloud itself was a very, very fine sulfuric acid mist. I personally drove through the cloud multiple times in my personal car. The thing I would recommend people do if you thought you were exposed to a significant amount of it or your vehicle, something like that, wash it off this afternoon," Martin said.

Residents south of the plant and along Highway 225 were asked to shelter-in-place until it was lifted at 1 p.m.  Residents in the Pasadena subdivision of El Jardin were under a shelter-in-place until 1:30 p.m.  La Porte Independent School District schools were included in the shelter-in-place.  Highway 225 was shut down in both directions between at Highway 146 at Sens Road.

No one was injured.

January 24, 2007 Moratalla, Spain A truck driver died in an accident on the C-3211 road, after his tanker came off the road near Moratalla and fell from a height of 8 metres into the Rambla La Murta.  The tanker was carrying 15,000 litres of sulphuric acid.  A specialist team from the fire brigade was called in to neutralise about 25 litres of the acid which leaked from the tanker.  The company which owned the vehicle removed the remaining cargo to another vehicle.  There are no homes in the immediate area of the accident.  The operation was supervised by Protección Civil, who activated the emergency plan for transport of dangerous goods.
January 19, 2007 Niles

Nearly 100 gallons of sulfuric acid spilled a parking lot at French Paper Co. in Niles.  There were no injuries and no equipment was damagedA container tipped while being transported by a  forklift.  Mill staff contained, neutralized and cleaned up the spillNobody was injured and at no time was anyone in danger.  Sulfuric acid is used in paper making for pH control.  French Paper employees and emergency personnel used a powder to soak up the sulfuric acid and it was then placed in a dumpster and French Paper is waiting approval from state agencies to dispose of it.

January 7, 2007 Montmagy, Quebec Shortly after 1 a.m., 24 cars of the 121-car Canadian National freight train derailed, vaulting one of the rail cars across a residential street, just missing the train station and stopping within a few metres of a house.  The freight train was headed for Dartmouth, N.S., from Toronto. Mangled freight cars carrying automobiles, lumber, grain, salt, even corn syrup, were scattered along both sides of the railway tracks as CN crews spent the day cleaning up.  Four of the derailed freight cars were filled with sulphuric acid, but none ruptured under the impact. No toxic substance was spilled and plans to evacuate part of the community were abandoned.
December 18, 2006 Houston, Texas Four people were taken to hospitals after a 55-gallon drum of sulfuric acid exploded Monday night at a southeast Houston chemical plant.  The fire started about 8:20 p.m. at SET Environmental Inc.  The company stores and mixes hazardous chemicals.  A truck driver and a plant employee near the explosion were rushed to hospitals with unknown injuries.  Two more employees exposed to smoke also were taken to hospitals.  Firefighters believe the drum contained a solution of 60 percent sulfuric acid and another chemical.  The cause of the explosion is unknown because employees were not tending the drum at the time.
December 12, 2006 Jinzhou, China About 40 residents in a city in northeast China were hospitalized after a sulfur dioxide spill from a petrochemical company.  The spill occurred around 9:00 a.m. Tuesday at the Jinzhou Petrochemical Industrial Co Ltd, in Liaoning Province, according to the Jinzhou City Work Safety Administration.  The leak lasted ten minutes and five kilograms of sulfur dioxide were released.  All the residents who fell ill complained of pain in the throat and chest, and were taken to nearby hospitals.  A two-millimeter crack on a pipe led to the spill, according to the administration.
December 7, 2006 Macedonia The impending contamination of Probistip and its outskirts, caused by sulfuric acid leakage, has been thwarted, i.e. the contamination was neutralized before it came into contact with the waters and the land.  According to a statement released by the Ministry of Environment & Spatial Planning, contamination threat was bridged in due time.  The statement comes after last Tuesday's report saying roughly 1.5 tons of sulfuric acid leaked at car battery plant Sap Vesna.  "The samples of land and water near the car battery factory Sap Vesna have tested negative. The testing showed that the land and the water were not polluted," the Ministry said. Toxicity tests have been conducted on samples of five rivers and the surrounding land.  State Inspectorate ordered the factory to immediately remove the damaged pipe that caused the leakage.
November 23, 2006 Parksville Lake, Tennessee

A spokesperson for the Polk County, Tennessee Sheriff's Office says that they have been forced to shutdown Highway 64 due to a sulfuric acid spill. A tanker truck has overturned on the Highway near Parksville Lake and is apparently leaking acid. Emergency and Hazardous Materials Teams are on the scene, or enroute to try and contain the leak. There are no homes or businesses in the immediate area so no evacuations are underway. However, again, Hwy. 64 is closed in both directions near Parksville Lake.

November 18, 2006 Brentwood, California A truck carrying molten sulfur spilled part of its contents and caused the shutdown of traffic through a portion of Brentwood. The 12:30 p.m. incident happened on Brentwood Boulevard, a two-lane highway which was closed for several hours between Havenwood Avenue and Sunset Road.  Motorists noticed a substance leaking from the truck and alerted the driver who then stopped.  While a small amount of molten sulfur that spilled on the road was not considered dangerous, the high temperature of the chemical makes it a potential hazard.  Crews cleaned off the road and police reopened it shortly before 7 p.m.
November 16, 2006 Zambia

A train spilled around 35 tons of sulphuric acid destined for the copper industry after being derailed by broken tracks.  The train was carrying some 72 tons of the acid which was headed for the country's largest copper mine, the Indian-owned Konkola Copper Mines (KCM).  The accident occurred 50 miles north of the tourist capital Livingstone.  Railway officials told the local press that unless the spill could be quickly neutralized with lime, there was a good chance that rain would wash it into a nearby canal, posing a danger to local people, livestock and wildlife.  This was the second major accident in as many weeks for KCM, which last week allowed untreated effluent from a plant in the town of Chingola to spill into a nearby river.

November 6, 2006 Stockholm, Sweden

A truck driver was filling his truck with the dangerous liquid when something apparently went wrong. He’s been taken to a local hospital. The extent of his injuries remains unclear.  Between 500 and 1000 liters of the acid reportedly leaked, but apparently did not get into the water, where it would have combined to produce a poisonous gas.

October 30, 2006 South Hadley, Massachusetts

Teams from around the region yesterday were trying to recapture about 1,500 gallons of sulfuric acid that escaped from a tank near the Granby town line Monday night and forced the cancellation of school in South Hadley and the evacuation of 88 households in Granby and South Hadley.  A police officer was treated for exposure to sulfuric acid fumes.  In Granby, 68 households were evacuated as a precaution following the spill about 8 p.m. on Monday at Presstek Inc., 755 New Ludlow Road.  The liquid leaked into a cement holding pit.  On Tuesday, the evacuation was extended to include 20 homes on East Street in South Hadley because the spill formed a gas inside the building.

October 20, 2006 Vero Beach, Florida City Water Plant officials were busy cleaning up 50 to 80 gallons of sulfuric acid that leaked from a pump at the Water Plant.  The leak began about 11:08 p.m. Thursday when the pump moving the acid failed to transfer some of the liquid to a holding container.   The acid is used to remove impurities from drinking water.  The pump has a shut-off valve but it was below the leak, making it impossib