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Sulphuric Acid Plant Safety - Accidents
November 8, 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
October 31, 2008new2.gif (111 bytes) Umkomaas, South Africa A section of the Sappi Saiccor plant in Umkomaas, south of Durban, has been shut down following a gas leak earlier in the week, the plant's chief executive Alan Tubb said on Friday.  We hope to find the root cause of the problem soon and until then it will remain closed," he said.  A team of environmental experts was expected to investigate why 48 people were exposed to toxic sulphur dioxide gas.  Khulekani Ntshangase, spokesperson for the agriculture and environmental affairs department said on Friday they would have to determine whether the leak was an accident or the result of human error.  "We have also told the plant that they need to give us a report on the incident within 14 days. Then once we determine whether the leak was an accident or caused by human error, we will decide whether to penalise them or not," he said.  Sappi, a global producer of coated fine paper and chemical cellulose, confirmed that 34 mill employees and 14 residents were affected by a sulphur dioxide leak in the plant's newly commissioned pipeline on Tuesday night.  The employees were treated at the mill's hospital and discharged.  The affected residents were assessed at GJ Crookes hospital in Scottburgh. They were discharged the same night.  Sappi general manager Gary Bowles said technicians at the mill were able to isolate the malfunctioning pipeline. He gave assurances that precautions would be taken to prevent further emissions.  "The mill has procedures in place to deal with eventualities of this nature on a priority basis, and we were able to contain the leak promptly," he said, adding that the incident was regretted.
October 30, 2008new2.gif (111 bytes) Clifton, Arizona, USA Police in Clifton Arizona, near the Arizona/New Mexico border, are working on containing a sulfuric acid spill.  Emergency crews have built up burms to keep the acid from spreading outside of a creek in the middle of town.  The acid come from the freeport mine.  If the emergency crews can not contain the spill it could flow into the San Francisco river that feeds in to the Gila River.  Currently there are not any evacuation orders or problems with drinking water throughout the state.
October 24, 2008new2.gif (111 bytes) Charleston, West Virginia, USA DuPont Co. officials said this afternoon that they had contained a small leak of concentrated sulfuric acid from their chemical plant in Belle.  The leak from a flange was discovered at about 11:30 a.m. in a half-inch sampling pipe in unit that recovers sulfuric acid as part of the plant's acrylics production process, said DuPont site manager Bill Menke.  "It was just a drip type of leak," Menke said.  Menke estimated that only an ounce or two of concentrated sulfuric acid, called oleum, was released. But when the material hits air, it generates fumes that created a grayish cloud in the area, Menke said. Crews used water to try to limit the fumes.
October 24, 2008new2.gif (111 bytes) Lewiston, Idaho, USA

Two people were injured in a crash involving a pickup and a semi hauling liquid sulfur on the Lewiston Hill Friday afternoon.  It happened at about 1:00 p.m. Idaho State Police said Kurtis Scheffer, 37, of Blaine, WA was southbound in a semi on the inside lane when, William Slemp, 43, of Lewiston came in from behind in a Toyota pickup on the outside lane to pass.  ISP said Slemp looked off to the left and drifted into the driver’s side of the semi. The pickup collided with the first tank on the trailer, and then Slemp jerked the wheel to the left. The vehicle rolled once coming to rest in an upright position.  Slemp and his 12-year-old son were extricated from the pickup and transported to St. Joseph Regional Medical Center. ISP at the scene said both suffered head injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening.  There was minor damage to the semi but no sulfur spilled.

October 17, 2008new2.gif (111 bytes) Mulberry, Florida, USA

A sulfur dioxide release left 29 workers with injuries this morning.  According to Polk County officials, the leak happened at the Mosaic facility on Highway 60 in Mulberry just before 8 a.m.  A company spokeswoman says the plant routinely admits sulfur dioxide, but weather conditions this morning caused the noxious cloud to hug the ground instead of drifting away.  Sulfur inhalation can cause respiratory problems and nose and throat irritation, and 18 contractors had to be hospitalized with varying degrees of those symptoms.  One person was admitted in serious condition.  As of 9 a.m., the sulfur cloud had dissipated and the scene cleared.

October 12, 2008new2.gif (111 bytes) Petrolia, Pennsylvania, USA

At least 2,500 residents were forced to evacuate after a toxic spill in a chemical plant in western Pennsylvania on Saturday.  A corrosive liquid overflowed from a tank at a chemical plant, evaporating into a dense toxic cloud which moved close to the ground in parts of Petrolia, Pennsylvania.  The liquid known as oleum, which resembles sulphuric acid, leaked from a tank at the Indspec Chemical Corp. plant in Petrolia, said plant manager Dave Dorko.  Authorities evacuated 2,500 people within the spill’s range and took them to shelters in nearby towns.  Three residents were taken to the Butler Memorial Hospital, officials said.  The state Department of Environmental Protection said authorities were concerned about the potential for respiratory damage and skin burns. Red Cross officials said they expected to shelter only 50 to 100 people overnight

October 9, 2008 Geismer, Louisiana

Nearby plant workers and residents across the Mississippi River in White Castle sheltered in place Thursday when a valve at the PCS Nitrogen plant in Geismar leaked sulfuric acid, State Police said.  Roads near the plant and in White Castle were blocked for several hours while officials observed the cloud of sulfuric acid vapors produced by the leak, State Police Sgt. Markus Smith said.  The release “didn’t have  a significant impact and there were no reported injuries,” Smith said.  “It sounded worse than it was,” he said.  Nevertheless, the offices of Homeland Security in Ascension and Iberville parishes issued the sheltering in place warnings to plant workers and White Castle residents.  Sheltering in place means people need to stay inside their homes and businesses, turn off their air conditioners and close their doors and windows, said State Police Trooper Russell Graham, public information officer for Troop A.  Law enforcement officers blocked roads in Ascension Parish leading to the plant and in White Castle until the sulfuric acid cloud dissipated, Graham said.  PCS officials reported a weld broke in the storage tank, causing the acid to leak into the atmosphere, Graham said.  “The tank was leaking 30 to 50 gallons a minute,” Graham said. “They have slowed the leak down to about 10 gallons a minute.”  Graham said water trucks sprayed a curtain of water on top of the cloud to keep it down until the emergency was over.   Workers pumped acid out of the leaking, 700-ton capacity tank until it was empty and the emergency was ended, officials said.

October 1, 2008  

An employee working on a filter at Decas Cranberry's water treatment plant was exposed to sulfuric acid Wednesday morning and rushed to the hospital.  At 1 p.m. Wednesday, Decas Cranberry Company President and CEO Jeff Carlson said hazmat officials were still on the scene, but the employee had been treated and released from the hospital "without any permanent injury".  Police received a 911 call at 7:57 a.m. that a chemical spill had occurred at the company.  Carlson estimated between three and five gallons of sulfuric acid, which is used to clean the treatment's filtration system, spilled and affected the employee's eyes.  "We have safety procedures in place and our employees use full equipment when handling anything hazardous," Carlson said.  "The employee was able to get to a nearby wash station and wash his eyes out immediately which is very important. His skin was not burned, but the fumes came in contact with his eyes. After the fire department is done with their work, we'll assess what happened, why it happened and determine if changes need to be made," he said.  The Fire Department said further details would be available after 2 p.m.

September 28, 2008 Finland

About 2,700 litres of sulphuric acid was spilt at the YIT factory in Ylivieska in Finland on Thursday.  Rescuers said the spill had been caused by human error when filling a tanker lorry.  Some of the acid seeped into the storm drain, but factory workers and firefighters managed to stop it from flowing into the town's water supply.  The fire brigade pumped out some of the acid from the ground and the drain and neutralised the rest with cream of lime.

September 27, 2008   Hazardous materials crews from the Unified Fire Authority along with officials from the Utah Department of Transportation and Salt Lake Valley Health Department are trying to figure out how a batch of sulfuric acid ended up on the side of a state road Friday.  A little after 8 a.m., fire crews responded to a 911 call of a possible field fire right off the onramp from state Route 202 to I- 80 near Saltair.   The first responding crews saw a plume of smoke but immediately recognized it did not look like smoke from a field fire, said UFA spokesman Wade Phillips. They recognized it as a chemical spill and called a hazmat crew.  That crew used binoculars to confirm it was a chemical spill. When sulfuric acid meets water it releases white plumes of smoke, which crews had originally believed to be a field fire.  Hazmat crews conducted a "Level-A" entry to the field about 8:45 a.m., meaning they were getting into encapsulated suits to get a closer look at what might have burned, Phillips said. He said there were some foaming bubbles on the ground.  The spill started on the shoulder of state Route 202 and spread over a 45-foot by 25-foot-wide area, Phillips said. The hazmat crew took soil samples and determined it was sulfuric acid. Yet, crews are still not sure exactly how it got there. There were no barrels on the ground to indicate it dropped off a truck, Phillips said. Investigators were looking at all possibilities from a spill to an illegal dump.  The plume never posed a large threat to motorists, as there was little wind, Phillips said, so the freeway remained open.
September 25, 2008 Grand Haven A small leak from a faulty plug in a one-ton sulfur dioxide tank delivered this week to the city's wastewater treatment plant forced authorities to evacuate about 75 homes for three hours Thursday.  Plant superintendent John Stuparits said the leak on a reserve tank at the rear of the property at 1525 Washington Ave. was discovered by a worker, who immediately called authorities.  Stuparits suspects the plug had a faulty thread, allowing the liquid substance to escape and immediately turn to gas.  Grand Haven Department of Public Safety Capt. Rick Yonker said the concentration of the gas never reached dangerous levels, but the emergency response erred on the side of safety.  Sulfur dioxide is used in municipal treatment plants to neutralize chlorine during the cleaning and disinfection process. Chlorine is toxic to aquatic life, and the plant sits adjacent to the Grand River.  Yonker said police went door-to-door to alert residents of the evacuation over a five-block area on the city's east side. There were no reported injuries or effects from the gas release.  "It's a dangerous irritant and can make breathing difficult if it is out in high concentrations," Yonker said. "Thankfully, that didn't happen here. But you never know how quickly the line will get capped or if the size of the leak will increase."  Mary O'Neill, who lives about a block west of the plant, said she never noticed the pungent odor that spread over the area around the plant. She went to visit her daughter when she was cleared from her home.  "It wasn't much of a problem at all," O'Neill said. "There sure seemed to be a lot of commotion, a lot of police cars. But I never felt that it was a danger."  Residents who were displaced were brought to a nearby church if they had nowhere else to go, Yonker said. City buses transported those people from the area.  "Everything went real smooth," he said.  A county hazardous material team was called to the scene about 4:30 p.m. and had the leak shut down by 7:45 p.m., authorities said.  Stuparits said he doesn't believe the tank was leaking long before it was reported.
September 21, 2008 Richmond

A gas leak at Richmond's wastewater-treatment plant forced an evacuation of the plant at about 7:30 p.m. yesterday and sent seven people to area hospitals as a precaution.  "We're taking this very seriously," said Robert C. Steidel, deputy director of the city's Department of Public Utilities and one of the first people to respond.  Police said 11 people apparently were affected by the leak of sulfur dioxide gas.  The plant south of the James River near Ancarrow's Landing treats up to 70 million gallons of wastewater a day.  Steidel said the four workers who were on duty at the time detected the leak, immediately evacuated the plant and were treated with oxygen.  Sulfur dioxide can be fatal if inhaled in large quantities, according to medical Web sites.  Four people in the area of the landing who apparently had been fishing were treated at the scene and released. Two other bystanders, an ambulance authority worker and the four plant employees were taken to area hospitals to be examined.  Steidel said the gas is piped from railroad tank cars into a chamber within the plant, where it is injected into water. That mixture is then added to wastewater to rid the water of chlorine before it is discharged into the James River.  The leak apparently occurred in the mixing chamber, which automatically becomes sealed off and airtight when a leak occurs. About 8:40 p.m., hazardous-materials teams determined that the leak had ceased and allowed utilities personnel to re-enter.

September 18, 2008 Savavvah, Georgia Emergency responders have closed Bay Street from Fahm to President streets because a tanker truck was leaking sulfuric acid.  Savannah-Chatham police say Bay Street is closed in both directions as Hazmat teams clean up small puddles of sulfuric acid left on the road.
September 16, 2008 Australia A SUNSHINE North manufacturer has been ordered to pay more than $66,600 to local environment groups after a major sulphur dioxide leak from its plant last year.  The leak of 473 kilos of sulphur dioxide in February last year resulted in a large-scale evacuation of surrounding residences and businesses.  Air Liquide Australia, which operates a gas distribution and dry ice operation in Bunnett St, Sunshine North, was ordered to pay $49,840 to the Moonee Ponds Creek Coordination Committee for an environmental education program for school students in the local catchment and $16,800 for native grassland revegetation in Spring Gully Reserve, Keilor East.  Sunshine Magistrates’ Court heard that Air Liquide discharged sulphur dioxide into the air, which “made the condition of the atmosphere so changed as to make or be reasonably expected to make the atmosphere harmful or potentially harmful to the health, welfare, safety or property of human beings”.  Sulphur dioxide is a common pollutant to which the community is exposed every day at very low levels. Its effects can be extremely debilitating in larger quantities.  The National Ambient Air Quality Standards and Goals recommendation is that exposure to sulphur dioxide is, in an average period of one day, that exposure be no more than 0.08 parts per million, for just one day per year.  Exposure to concentrations of 10 to 50 parts per million for five to 15 minutes causes irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, choking and coughing. Those with im-paired heart or lung function and asthmatics are at increased risk.  Air Liquide national manager specialty gases, Tim Passmore, said the company had made several changes since then, to prevent a recurrence of the incident.  “We have set about updating some of the equipment, even though the plant is only three or four years old,” Mr Passmore said. “We’ve had the Metropolitan Fire Brigade come through and have a look, we had an open day where Work Cover and the neighbours came in, so we could show them what we’ve done and the changes that we’ve made to reassure them that nothing like this will happen again.”
September 15, 2008   A worker from Eck Industries in Manitowoc was sent to the hospital late Sunday night after a chemical leak ain the aluminum foundry.  The Manitowoc Fire Department says it happened about 11:00 p.m.  Eck Industries is in the 1600 block North 8th Street.  The haz-mat team had the scene cleared up by 6:00 a.m.  Firefighters say a small amount of sulfur dioxide gas leaked from a tank. One worker came into contact with the gas.  He was taken to the hospital.  His condition was not known as of Monday morning.  All workers, about 30 to 40 workers, according to the fire department, at the plant evacuated when the leak happened.  No one else in the area was evacuated. The fire department says Eck uses sulfur dioxide in its aluminum molding process.  According to the EPA, sulfur dioxide can be acidic and react with other chemicals to make dangerous compounds, and can cause respiratory problems.  Eck Industries officials say business will run as usual Monday.
September 15, 2008 Martinez, California A spokesman from the Shell oil refinery in Martinez confirmed today that a truck contracted to remove sulfur from the refinery this morning appears to have spilled a small amount of it on the Marina Vista onramp to southbound Interstate Highway 680.  The material, known as elemental sulfur, has dried on the roadway and is not considered a health or safety risk, Shell's health and safety supervisor Tom McKnight said.  A shell employee noticed the spill as he was driving home from work at 6:38 a.m. and reported it to the California Highway Patrol, Shell spokesman Steve Lesher said.  The trucks were contracted to take the material, a byproduct of the refining process, from the refinery for further processing. Elemental sulfur is used to make a variety of other products, including fertilizer.  The spill area, located at the base of the onramp, is about 10 feet by 15 feet with a 50-yard trail, Lesher said.  Shell crews were still assessing the situation this afternoon to decide whether they would clean it up.  "We don't believe it needs cleaning up," McKnight said. "There's no real hazard there."  He said the spill was too small to be a slip hazard and that the material is not harmful in its current state.  If they do attempt to clean up the spill, the California Highway Patrol would have to close the ramp so crews could chip the material off the roadway, which could damage the pavement, Lesher said.  Shell officials are looking into how the spill occurred and have been talking to the trucking company to find out which truck dropped the material.  No road closures have been necessary and the spill was not considered a hazardous materials situation, Lesher said.
An acid spill at a Chicago chemical company sent at least one person to the hospital and caused several others to get treatment for respiratory problems.  Hazmat crews were called to two separate locations near the TBS Chemical Company in the 2900-block of East 126th Thursday afternoon. Firefighters say 30 gallons of sulfuric acid spilled.  The acid caused a plume of smoke which may have drifted to the second location nearby.
August 22, 2008 Benton County, Indiana A semi rear ended a tanker on US 41 and State Road 352 near Boswell spreading sulfuric acid on the road and releasing toxins in the air.  The semi was coming up behind the tanker apparently not paying attention and at the last minute, swerved to the left and clipped the tanker in the rear and busted open his tanker.  The accident spilled 750 gallons of sulfuric acid and empty aresol cans all over US 41.   The sulfuric acid stung eyes and noses, so the police evacuated homes and businesses closest to the crash and closed the road.  Boswell residents were told to stay inside their homes.
August 16, 2008 Edmonton, Alberta A fire at the Apache Zama Gas Plant Complex sent three workers to High Level Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.  Zama City is about 600 km northwest of Edmonton.  The fire started at 1:30 p.m. on a block of sulphur and was extinguished by 5:30 p.m. Fifteen workers from the plant were evacuated and 30 residents in Zama City fled of their own accord.  The Energy Resources Conservation Board is investigating the cause of the fire. They have not detected any off-lease emissions from the fire.
August 13, 2008 Australia

OAKEY Abattoir's 700 workers were evacuated yesterday after more than 800 litres of sulphuric acid spilt on site.  Emergency service crews, including a 8specialised Hazardous Chemical Unit, responded quickly to the potentially deadly situation after receiving the call at 9.38am.  All roads surrounding the abattoir were blocked.  Luckily, no-one was injured.  Oakey Abattoir plant manager Bob Bradford said the 800 litres of acid had leaked from a tank located outside the rendering building.  Initially, it was feared 2000 litres had been spilt, however Mr Bradford said the tank only held 2000 litres and that it had been in use for quite some time before the accident occurred.  Mr Bradford said the steel tank had a concrete bunded area around it which contained the spill.  "The tank was reasonably new, actually, as we had replaced the old one recently," he said.  "We're in the process of pumping the fluid from the bunded area to other vessels and then once that is done, the tank will be inspected to find out why it had sprung a leak."  The inspection will be carried out today.  Staff was evacuated and kept outside for 50 minutes before returning to "business as usual".  "We haven't evacuated the plant for anything like this before," Mr Bradford said.  "Everything went as planned, the bunded area worked perfectly and we took the right precautions of evacuating people."

August 4, 2008

Houston, Texas

Valero Energy Corp said production at its 130,000 barrel per day Houston refinery was temporarily reduced after an incident that heavily damaged a sulfur loading tank on Monday morning.  The Houston Fire Department said the tank, which contained sulfur dioxide, ruptured, leading to a shelter-in-place order to nearby residents in Houston's Manchester neighborhood. The shelter order was lifted about two hours after the incident.  A total of five workers -- three contract employees from the refinery and two contractors from nearby facilities -- were taken to hospitals following the incident with breathing problems.  All had been released by mid-afternoon, the company said.  Earlier Valero said four workers were taken to hospitals.  Small homes in the Manchester neighborhood are across local streets from the refinery, which is at the west end of the Houston Ship Channel.  Local television station KHOU-TV showed video of a smoldering tank with a large hole in a portion of its roof at the refinery in a Monday morning news report. Debris could be seen on the ground near the tank.

July 28, 2008 Richmond, Virgina

A sulfuric acid spill at the Chevron refinery this morning has caused no injuries or adverse effects to surrounding areas, the company said.  A leak in a pipeline containing the chemical was discovered around 8:10 a.m. and involved about 1,000 pounds of the liquid, said Chevron spokesman Walt Gill.  Because the sulfuric acid was in liquid and not vapor form, there was no harmful odor emitted, Gill said. Crews have been dispatched to clean up the spill.  Even though the spill did not cause any significant damage or harm, Gill said, the volume of the spill required the company to report it to county and state authorities.

July 28, 2008 Sand Springs. Oklahoma

A tanker loaded with sulfuric acid and bleach burns on US 412 Monday morning. Emergency responders shut down the busy highway both directions while fighting the blaze.  The driver of the truck said he was hauling the chemicals on US 412 near the Keystone Dam, when a tire on his truck blew out.  "I just know that I was suddenly in the rail," he said.  Doug Stevens, the operations manager for the chemical company involved, said bleach could have a reaction to sulfuric acid, but said there was little danger to the firefighters or general public from the smoke released from the fire.  Sand Springs Fire Chief Mark Joslin said there was concern about spraying water on the sulfuric acid. That could produce a violent chemical reaction. That, combined with the potential for runoff of the dangerous chemicals into the lake, played into firefighters' decisions to let the fire burn itself out.  The blaze sparked several grass fires, as well.  Emergency workers shut down US 412 for hours while fighting the blaze. As of press time, there was no word on when it would be re-opened.

July 18, 2008 Grand Blanc Residents near Grand Blanc Processing off Baldwin Road were evacuated early today when several tanks filled with sulfuric acid caught fire.  Police were called to the plant at 10151 Gainey Drive about 4 a.m., said Grand Blanc Area Fire Department Fire Chief Jim Harmes.  Most of the fires were quickly under control, but firefighters were concerned about hazardous vapors in the air so began evacuating residences and businesses about 5 a.m. in about a half-mile area from the plant. One tank continued to burn from the inside, making it difficult for firefighters to put the flames out, Harmes said.
July 16, 2008

South Elgin, Illinois

One man was injured and dozens of firefighters were tied up for several hours Tuesday after an industrial accident spilled an estimated 40 gallons of sulfuric acid in a Custom Aluminum Products building at 410 Division St.  Capt. Burt Lancaster of the South Elgin & Countryside Fire Protection District said a 58-year-old male employee sustained second-degree burns on his arms when the acid began leaking from a pipe about 10:45 a.m. The man, whose name had not been released, was taken to Provena Saint Joseph Hospital in Elgin, where he was reported to be "in good shape," Lancaster said.  Fire Chief Joe Cluchey said that when firefighters arrived, they found employees working to shut off the spill, but "we also noted product still being released from some of the dispensing equipment. Employees confirmed that this product was sulfuric acid."   Cluchey said 15 workers were evacuated from the anodizing factory, which is one of a complex of seven adjoining buildings operated by Custom Aluminum and the affiliated company Casco Industries. However, when testing revealed the outside air was not dangerously contaminated with fumes, work was allowed to continue in the other six buildings.  The chief said Custom Aluminum managers believed they were able to shut down the leak by shutting down an air compressor. But help from six other fire departments was called to get enough trained hazardous-materials technicians to enter the building, make sure the leaking had stopped, and make sure no liquid acid was leaking into any drains or areas outside the building. One crew of technicians entered the factory wearing impermeable plastic suits and positive-pressure breathing gear, while another crew, similarly equipped, waited outside in case anyone in the first crew collapsed.  Misting fans and tent-like shelters were set up to cool off the heavily encumbered technicians as a cloudless sun beat down through the 90-degree air.  About 1 p.m., the spill was declared to be contained, and a crew from Hazchem Environmental Corp., a private cleanup contractor hired by Custom Aluminum, had arrived to remove the acid and complete repairs.  South Elgin firefighters were assisted by technicians, ambulances and/or standby fire engines from the Elgin, West Dundee and Hanover Park fire departments, plus the Hampshire, Pingree Grove & Countryside, and Rutland-Dundee Townships fire protection districts.

July 10, 2008 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, 2008

 

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 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, 2008

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 bein