(The following story by Duane W. Gang appeared on The Press-Enterprise website on August 15.)
BLOOMINGTON, Calif. — Environmental cleanup crews have been working since Sunday to safely remove thousands of gallons of an extremely dangerous chemical from a damaged rail car in Bloomington, authorities said.
Only 40 gallons of hydrofluoric acid spilled Saturday night, and there were no evacuations or injuries.
But the San Bernardino County Fire Department is treating it as a major event, with Hazmat, decontamination, rescue and medical personnel on hand 24 hours a day as the removal work continues, Tracey Martinez, a fire spokeswoman, said Tuesday.
“It’s pretty potent,” she said.
Since the spill, crews have been working to transfer the remaining 14,000 gallons from the damaged rail car into trucks, Martinez said.
Only three trucks that can safely handle the chemical are available to haul the acid to Stockton, the nearest facility that can store hydrofluoric acid, Martinez said. Since each truck has only a 2,500-gallon capacity, the removal will take several trips, she said.
The acid, one of the most corrosive, is used in glass etching, metal cleaning, electronics and other industrial uses. It can easily penetrate the skin, causing destruction to deep tissue and bone, according to the University of North Carolina Department of Environment, Safety and Health. Prolonged exposure can be deadly.
A Union Pacific Railroad spokesman said Sunday that the chemical leaked at a rate of about four gallons per minute, with a total of 40 gallons released. County fire and railroad workers cleaned up the initial spill, officials said.
The leak started in a rail yard at 19100 Slover Ave. and was reported at 8:57 p.m. Saturday, according to incident reports filed with the state Office of Emergency Services. Kinder Morgan pipelines were briefly shut down as a precaution, according to the state spill reports.
Martinez said the cause of the leak is not known.