Just before 9 a.m., the West Burlington Fire Department was sent to the building after receiving an anonymous tip, according to Fire Chief Shaun Ryan.A pipe at the factory broke late Tuesday, resulting in a large spill of hydrochloric acid, according to Ryan.
Ryan said the plant's manager told crews 2000-4000 gallons of the acid is estimated to have leaked.Shortly after West Burlington fire crews arrived on the scene, and due to the potential for hydrochloric acid to be explosive, Ryan said he ordered the plant to shut down and send employees home at about 9:15 a.m."I basically told the whole plant they had to evacuate," Ryan said. "(Hydrochloric acid) does have the potential to be explosive if the right conditions exist."
2000 gallons of hydrochloric acid! That sounds bad. (I'm guessing it was dilute.) Further on in the article, some of the workers were reporting inhalation issues and using shopvacs to clean up the spill, which is not exactly ideal...
So my brain started trying to imagine using a Shop-Vac to clean up concentrated hydrochloric acid, and before too long, I was imagining Salvador Dali's The Persistence of Shop-Vacs.
ReplyDeleteThis might be a sign that I should go back to work.