Chlorine incident at Texas water park

Via the New York Times, a chemical incident at a theme park: 

Twenty-six people were hospitalized with breathing problems or skin irritation after they were exposed to bleach and sulfuric acid on Saturday afternoon at Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Splashtown, a water park in Spring, Texas, the authorities said.

One person was in critical condition on Saturday evening, said Rachel Neutzler, a spokeswoman for the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office.

The authorities evacuated the park at about 3:30 p.m. local time.

Ms. Neutzler said investigators did not believe the exposure to the chemicals, which are used to maintain pH balance, had been the result of an intentional act. She said it had occurred in a shallow pool intended for children.

Scott Seifert, chief of the Spring Fire Department, said that the authorities had decontaminated more than 60 people by having them massage their eyes and wash off under the hose of a ladder truck.

Chief Seifert said the breathing problems had been caused by a combination of 35 percent sulfuric acid and 10 to 13 percent bleach.

Ms. Neutzler said that 39 people who had come into contact with the chemicals did not want to go the hospital.

Investigators were examining a system at the park that injects chemicals into the water to maintain a pH balance of 7. When the authorities arrived, they tested the water, and the pH balance was 7, said Lina Hidalgo, the Harris County judge.

Curious to know if there was a moment in which the system put too much acid in? Combination of bleach and acid would get you some hypochlorous acid pretty quickly...