Selected Report: B-35-2008
| Spill Report Information |
| Spill Number: |
B-35-2008 |
| Report Status: |
Final Report |
| MCD Town: |
SEARSPORT |
| Local Name: |
SEARSPORT |
| Primary Responder: |
DARRYL E LUCE |
| Primary Product: |
SULFURIC ACID {72} - 10.00 ESTIMATE
|
| Subject/Owner: |
MONTREAL, MAINE AND ATLANTIC RAIL ROAD - - |
| I. EVENT |
| Spill Info |
| Type: |
Hazardous Material Incident |
| Source: |
Land Transportation - Railroad |
| Cause: |
Accident - Human Error |
| Spill Date/Time |
| Spill Date/Time: |
01/19/2008
|
| Reporter Type/Detection Method |
| Type: |
Anonymous {5} |
| Method: |
Other |
| Reported Date/Time |
| Reported Date/Time: |
01/19/2008
|
| Other Contact |
| Contact: |
JIM DITTMEIER-CHIEF-SEARSPORT FIRE DEPT
3 UNION STREET
SEARSPORT ME 04974 USA
|
| Comment: |
|
| Other Contact |
| Contact: |
PETER GOODWIN-PRODUCTION DIRECTOR-GENERAL ALUM CORPORATION
KIDDER POINT RD
PO BOX 436
ME 04974 USA
|
| Comment: |
|
| Subject/Spiller (Potential Responsible Party) |
| Contact: |
MONTREAL, MAINE AND ATLANTIC RAIL ROAD
15 IRON ROAD
HERMON ME 04401 USA
|
| Comment: |
|
| Primary Responder and Other Employees |
| Contact(s): |
DARRYL E LUCE (Primary Responder)
|
| Comment: |
No Further Response Action Expected |
| II. SITE |
| Location |
| Location Type: |
Transportation - Rail {RR} |
| Name: |
MONTREAL, MAINE & ATLANTIC |
| Street Address: |
KIDDER POINT RD - GAC YARD |
| MCD Town: |
SEARSPORT |
| Local Name: |
SEARSPORT |
| State/Province: |
ME |
| Spill Point |
| Spill Point: |
UTM North 4923775.52
UTM East 509557.84
|
| Wells and Media Affected |
| Wells Affected: |
0 Wells Impacted/ 0 Wells At Risk
|
| Media Affected: |
Inland Surface Water {I}
|
| Tanks Involved |
| Tanks Involved: |
NONE
|
| III. CLEANUP |
| Product Reported: |
SULFURIC ACID {72} |
| Products Found/Amount Spilled: |
SULFURIC ACID {72} - 10.00 ESTIMATE
(Primary Product) |
| Material Recovered: |
NONE
|
| Recovery/Treatment Method: |
NONE
|
| Cleanup DTREE: |
|
| Disposal Information: |
|
| IV. NARRATIVE |
|
Mr. Tardiff reported that a Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway tank car carrying sulfuric acid had derailed in the rail yard at General Alum Corporation (GAC) in Searsport. Nothing had leaked but the car was leaning. I went to the scene and met the Searsport Fire Chief. He gave me a tour and it was clear to me that there was little risk of a spill. The car was located such that if it did roll over there was nothing to puncture it and it would land in a ditch that would prevent it form rolling further. This type of tank car has no valves other than a pair of one inch taps on top of the dome. The acid is unloaded by compressed air. Because of the car's weight it was necessary to unload it first. Again I had little reason to fear a spill as the GAC crew routinely unloads these cars. Since the recovery crew was hours away I did not wait, but asked the chief to call me if there was a problem. He didn't and there was. I learned from a local newspaper articles days later that 20 gallons of the acid was spilled during the transfer to another rail car. I called Mr. Tardiff first and was handed off to Peter Goodwin, GAC's production director. He explained that to transfer the acid into another car they opened the second car's dome cover and draped a transfer hose into the empty car. The dome was opened for easy venting. Everything went fine until the end. With the new car now full and the first car empty, the compressed air bubbled into the acid causing about 10 gallons to burp out and onto the sides of the car. The fire department then hosed off the car to dilute the acid to protect workers. Since the car was on the rail bed, the wash water percolated into the ballast, mixing with ditch water. I believe that the dilution will be great enough to prevent injury to workers and life forms outside the ditch line. I asked Mr. Tardiff why the spill was not reported to me. He could not explain. I asked Mr. Goodwin who was there at the time of the spill and he had no answer. During my conversations with both parties, I made it clear that this should have been reported and they agreed. I suspect that it was mostly a matter of who was responsible, the plant or the railroad? In any case they are aware of the need to report.
|
| V.ATTACHMENTS |
| None |
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