February 26, 1978. Near Youngstown, Florida: Eight motorists were killed, 3500 people evacuated, 88 injured, 40 hospitalized, eight critical. According to the EPA, 60,000 pounds of chlorine initially escaped from a 90,000-pound (45 tons) tank. This train derailment was later determined to be sabotage.1-3
November 10, 1979. Ontario, Canada. Mississauga, just west of Toronto: In this chemical catastrophe, an overheated journal box, or “hot box,” led to a car of toluene losing an axle and a 24-car derailment. Propane cars burst into flames upon impact, and tankers containing styrene and toluene were punctured. Within a minute, flammable liquids and vapors ignited, causing a massive explosion of a tank car, visible 100 kilometers away. The fire was fed by 11 tank cars of propane, four with caustic soda, three with styrene, three with toluene, two box cars with fiberglass insulation and one with chlorine. Estimates varied from 218,000 to 250,000 (of 284,000) residents evacuated from Canada’s ninth largest city. No one died. Until eclipsed by the evacuation of New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, this was called the largest peacetime evacuation in North American history.4-6
An estimated 76 of 90 tons of liquid chlorine escaped in the rupture and most was apparently swept up in the fireball, “and the resulting chlorine gas had been dispersed harmlessly over Lake Ontario.” (Emphasis added.) Crews struggled for days to seal the meter-long leak, a task complicated by propane fires and threats of more explosions.
This was the likely the largest mixed chemical spill and the largest chlorine spill, at least in North American history. The gas cloud apparently wasn’t tracked.
May 6, 1991. Henderson, Nevada: Pioneer Chlor Alkalai facility had a leak of brine from a heat exchanger that quickly corroded chlorine transfer pipes and valves. Later estimates ranged from 42 up to 60 tons of chlorine may have leaked. In this highly populated valley, there were no evacuations for 5-6 hours. About 300 people were sent to hospitals, with 30 admitted, and 10,000 evacuated. 5,000 claims were settled.7,8
April 11, 1996. Alberton, Montana: Following a derailment from a broken rail, an estimated 130,000 pounds of liquid chlorine spilled from a ruptured 90-ton tank, along with 17,000 gallons of industrial waste potassium cresylate. The two spilled chemicals mixed to form chlorinated compounds. One person immediately died, with over 350 sent to hospitals and 15 hospitalized. About 1000 people evacuated. Many suffered chronic illness. This was the largest chlorine spill in U.S. history.50
August 15, 2002. Near Festus, Missouri: A hose connected to a chlorine tank ruptured at a DPC Enterprises plant. The emergency shutdown valves did not close as designed due to poor maintenance, causing a 48,000-pound release of chlorine. Hundreds of residents were evacuated or required to shelter in place, 63 residents sought medical attention and three were admitted to the hospital.9
July 27, 2003. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: A Honeywell plant used chlorine to make a refrigerant gas and after a valve began leaking chlorine, eight plant workers were hospitalized, ten residents went to the ER, and about 600 residents within a one-mile radius were ordered to stay indoors. Despite official assurances of no off-site exposure, some residents reported “an overpowering odor, then complained of chest, stomach, throat and lung pains” at least 1.5 miles distant. Up to 14,000 pounds of chlorine were released while the hose leaked for 3-1/2 hours.10,11
November 17, 2003. Phoenix, Arizona: A chlorine leak at a recycling plant released up to 1,920 pounds of chlorine, forcing the evacuation of 7,200 people in parts of Phoenix and Glendale. Sixteen people, including 11 Glendale police officers, were treated at hospitals. The leak originated at DPC Enterprises, a chlorine recycling business, during transfer of chlorine from a railroad tank car to an 18-wheel tanker-truck. A failed scrubber, which collected excess vapor, was suspected.12,13
The leak triggered Maricopa County’s Community Emergency Notification System, an automated dialing system that alerted residents of emergencies. About 1,300 area residents answered their phones and received the message. The system left messages on another 560 machines, but 535 residents hung up after the recorded message started to play, perhaps mistakenly thinking they were phone solicitations. But some people said the message was soft and hard to hear.
April 23, 2004. Illiopolis, Illinois: A vinyl chloride leak that ignited at the Formosa Plastics facility killed five workers, injured three others and caused an evacuation of 150 people. A fire burned for days.16
May 25, 2004. Conyers, Georgia: A major fire at BioLabs, Inc., a manufacturer of swimming pool supplies, spewed smoke and chlorine-based chemicals in the air. About 75 people were treated at hospitals. Eleven thousand were evacuated within 1-1/2-mile radius, but residents over five miles away reported smelling chlorine in the air and having symptoms.14
Because of the smoke and uncertainty, the EPA sent an airplane equipped with air monitors to fly through the plume of smoke to determine what toxic chemicals were present and in what concentrations.
Fueled by a quarter-million pounds of dry chlorine pellets, calcium hypochlorite, the fire burned into the next day. Though flammable, the pellets were not combustible, so something else triggered combustion. The gas cloud was visible 45 miles away. Satellite photos show the gas plume stretched about 100 miles.
June 28, 2004. Bexar County, Texas, ten miles outside San Antonio: A freight train collision resulted in a chlorine and anhydrous ammonium gas leak, killing the conductor and two nearby residents. At least 50 others were treated for exposure. 45 people were evacuated. 120,000 pounds of chlorine escaped. People reported symptoms ten miles away.15
The Augusta-Chronicle later reported on one family’s illness from the Bexar spill. Ralph Velasquez and his family were exposed and put in intensive care. Nine months later, his two daughters and two sons had respiratory and fatigue problems. Velasquez reported sensitivity to fumes and sawdust.16
“I just don’t have the stamina anymore,” Velasquez said. “I get tired really easy now. It’s just the effort to breathe.”
In most of these catastrophes, later chronic illness seldom received much media exposure, especially nationally. The Augusta-Chronicle reported because of the 2005 Graniteville spill.
January 6, 2005. Graniteville, South Carolina: A train wreck released between 42 to 60 tons of chlorine that killed nine people, and sent at least 525 to emergency rooms, with 71 hospitalized, eight in critical condition. Graniteville, a town of 7,000, was located 15 miles from Augusta, Georgia. Emergency warning systems were delayed for hours. About 5,400 people within a mile of the crash site were eventually evacuated, though originally ordered to shelter in place for fifteen hours. A chlorine fog was reported at least 2-1/2 miles away.17-20
A researcher called the incident “one of the largest community exposures to chlorine gas since World War I,” and a significant challenge to health care facilities.20 Another said, “[T]he Graniteville derailment exposed the largest general U.S. population ever to chlorine-gas.”22
The injury toll grew over time. A later registry identified 1,384 injured people, with 851 who received medical attention immediately following the event.23
“This was a dense gas that settled over the community, and it stayed there for a few hours. About 15,000 people live within a three-mile radius of the disaster site, but the gas reached people living as far away as 12 miles,” an epidemiologist said.24
February 12, 2007. Tacoma, Washington: Only 900 pounds of chlorine gas was enough to close the Port of Tacoma, the seventh largest port in North America. The gas escaped during a transfer from a rail car at a bleach factory, and 12 unprotected responders were exposed when the wind shifted.21
August 29, 2007. Las Vegas, Nevada: A chlorine tank escaped from the Arden train yard and traveled 20 miles at speeds up to 55 mph through densely populated areas. No gas escaped, but the University of Nevada estimated the release of a 90-ton chlorine tank in Las Vegas could kill about 91,000 people.33
May 17, 2008. LaFayette, Louisiana: A train derailment spilled 8,000 to 10,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid from two tankers, creating a toxic cloud causing over three thousand people to evacuate within one mile of the wreck. Five people were hospitalized. Twenty others sought emergency care.25
June 2010. Tulare, California: At a scrap metal recycling plant, a worker cut into a one-ton tank still containing liquid chlorine. Twenty-three people went to the hospital, six hospitalized.32
July 2010. Springdale, Arkansas: At a Tyson Foods plant, a chlorine gas release exposed 173 people, sending 50 to hospitals and putting five in intensive care.32
August 12, 2015. Spokane, Washington: In another recycling event, chlorine vented from a one-ton canister, sending 13 people to hospitals and killing one.30,31
August 27, 2016. Near New Martinsville, West Virginia: An early morning chlorine leak occurred at the Axiall Corporation in Marshall County, West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Axiall is one of the largest U.S. chlorine producers in the US. Two people were sent to the hospital and six others treated on-site. On the day of the spill, confusion existed over how much chlorine had spilled and for how long.34,39 The Axiall plant was five miles north of New Martinsville and 1,864 households were within a 5-mile radius of the facility. Reportedly hundreds of residents in nearby communities were evacuated for part of one day.35,39 The odor was reported “miles” from the plant.36
Within a few days, the NTSB reported that 17,000 gallons of chlorine had spilled—an entire tank.37 Patrick McGinley, a West Virginia law professor, told media, “It could have been catastrophic in terms of exposure. It could have killed many people if the rail car had been in a populated area. Those communities dodged a bullet.”38
The NTSB later determined that the tank “sustained a 42-inch long crack in its tank shell shortly after being loaded with 178,400 pounds of liquefied compressed chlorine,” and released the entire load over 2.5 hours, producing a “large vapor cloud” that drifted south through the Ohio Valley. The car was not part of a train yet or in transport.39
Notably, this DOT-105 chlorine tank car had catastrophically failed absent any impact. The chlorine loading was the tank’s first since undergoing repairs, which had failed to detect an incipient crack.
NTSB: “As a result of this investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) makes new safety recommendations to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the Association of American Railroads, and the American Railcar Industries, Inc.”
October 2, 2016. Atchison, Kansas: Early in the morning at the MGPI Processing facility, a worker mistakenly pumped sulfuric acid from a truck tank into a holding tank of sodium hypochlorite (bleach), creating a cloud of chlorine.41
“The cloud was massive,” Atchison Fire Department Chief Ted Graf told media. “I’m not even sure how to describe it.”
Over 140 people were treated for respiratory injury, with at least two in intensive care. Local schools were evacuated, and people in the city of 11,000 told to shelter in place. The chemical cloud was described as a very thick fog by a resident.40,41,43,44
By afternoon the Atchison City Manager reported the “cloud has 100 percent dissipated” and that all patients appeared to be “making a full recovery.” He claimed that the “sun neutralizes chlorine and we’ve had ample sun today, so everybody we talk to seems confident that we won’t have any long-term issues.”
Two people remained hospitalized.42
The Chemical Safety Board later determined that some 4,000 gallons of sulfuric acid was added to 5800 gallons of sodium hypochlorite over a period of nearly 45 minutes, creating the massive chlorine cloud. “Since January 1, 2014, eight incidents similar to the MGPI incident have occurred, which caused 44 injuries and evacuation of 846 people.”44
February 15, 2017. McIntosh, Alabama: Reportedly a “large amount of chlorine spilled” at the Olin Corporation, producers of chlorine, caustic soda and other chemicals, but their call notification system failed to warn nearby residents. Olin claimed that “no employees or members of the community were harmed.”45,46
But two weeks later, a community of impoverished residents along the property line said hundreds of pine trees had turned brown, and Olin “has not contacted them with details of the spill or advised what health effects if any, may occur.”46
One resident told media “people in the community have had pneumonia-like symptoms and if you look directly across the street—the day after that the chlorine spill got out those trees started dying. So, you can imagine what it’s doing to us in the community and to our bodies.”
After dozens of complaining and untrusting residents contacted a local news station for help, FOX10 News Investigative Reporter Kati Weis tried to uncover what happened over a month earlier. Weis found that 738 pounds of chlorine gas had leaked. Police officers were dispatched without protection to control an access point, and became ill. One resident told Weis she had been diagnosed with asthma, and that others remained injured.
Olin declined to be interviewed by Weis, though they released a statement concerning improvements to their notification system.
The McIntosh Police Chief told Weis concerning the still-damaged trees in late March, “It’s a concern to us, after seeing what it has done to the environment, what could it be doing to…anybody’s lungs close by?” The public agency investigating the incident, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, “doesn’t appear to be concerned,” Weis reported. ADEM had dismissed tree damage and made no comment on human health.47
Weis later uncovered that Olin had had 16 chemical leaks in February alone that had not been reported, including nine chlorine leaks. Some were likely too small to require reporting.48
The Alabama Forestry Commission confirmed that hundreds of trees had been damaged, and residents continued to wonder if people had been chronically injured as well. There was no word of any health investigation.
Since 1993, reported chlorine-related accidents occurred in the United States every two to three days, with about one-third causing injury.49 For hazardous substance emergency events in the U.S., ATSDR noted in 2000 that “chlorine events exhibited the greatest significant risk of having events with victims.”51
At the time of the Alberton spill, Alberton was called the second-largest chlorine spill “in railroading history” behind the 1978 Florida spill, “according to industry officials,” the Missoulian reported, claiming 90 tons, a full tanker, released in Florida.26 But in fact, the Florida spill involved a 45-ton tank.27 After the 2005 Graniteville spill, Graniteville was often cited as the largest chlorine spill. The NTSB estimated that 60 tons (120,000) pounds released.28 However, 120,000 pounds of chlorine was reported released as well in the 2004 Bexar County, Texas, derailment release.15
An estimated 130,000 lbs (65 tons) of chlorine spilled at Alberton.29 Though never stated, Alberton was and remains the largest derailment chlorine spill on record in the U.S., surpassed in North America by the Mississauga, Canada, spill.4
References
1-Terry Witt, “Gas from derailed train fatal to eight; 88 injured,” News Herald, 27 February 1978.
2-“Atlanta and St. Andrew James Bay Train Derailment, Youngstown, Florida,” EPA 1980.
3-Marlene Womack, “Out of the Past: 1978 derailment pointed to sabotage,” Panama News Herald, 2 March 2013.
4-Mississauga Train Derailment (1979). www.mississauga.ca/portal/residents/localhistory
5-Mississauga Train Derailment. www.heritagemississauga.com/page/Mississauga-Train-Derailment
6-“Canadiana: 1979 Train Derailment,” Mississauga Library System, posted 3 November 2000.
7-J. Gordon Routley, “Massive Leak of Liquified Chlorine Gas. Henderson, Nevada. (May 6, 1991),” United States Fire Administration Technical Report Series, Federal Emergency Management Agency, United States Fire Administration, National Fire Data Center, May 1991.
8-Rachael Levy, “Chemical plant says medical records will damage chlorine-leak claim,” Las Vegas Sun, 12 March 1996.
9-U.S. Chemical Safety Board, Washington DC, June 14, 2007.
10-“Eight plant workers, some neighbors hospitalized,” Advocate, July 2003.
11-Hilary Russ, “Honeywell fined for chemical accidents,” Law360, 25 September 2009. www.law360.com/articles/124523/honeywell-fined-for-chemical-accidents
12-Brent Whiting, Maggie Galehouse and Judi Villa, “Cloud of chlorine pollutes W. Valley,” The Arizona Republic, 18 November 2003.
13-Investigative Report, Chlorine Release, DPC Enterprises, L.P., Glendale, AZ. November 17, 2003, U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, February 2007.
14-Mike Morris, “Firefighters from four jurisdictions battling blaze,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 25 May 2004.
15-“Trains Collide, Spill Chlorine in S.W. Bexar Co.,” KSAT.com (San Antonio, TX), 28 June 2004.
16-Johnny Edwards, “Lasting damage causes concern,” Augusta-Chronicle, 5 March 2005.
17-“S.C. Train Wreck Death Toll Rises,” WPBF News.com, 6 January 2005.
18-Jim Nesbitt, Karen Ethridge and Jeremy Craig, “Graniteville toll rises to 9,” Augusta Chronicle, 9 January 2005.
19-TechSpeak-chlorine release.pdf.
20-Jennifer Combs, “New study examines effects of Graniteville, S.C., chlorine gas disaster,” Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars, 29 December 2008.
21-S. Gordon, “Thousands Could Have Been Exposed to Deadly Gas on Tacoma’s Tideflats,” The News Tribune, 9 March 2008. http://www.firehouse.com
22-University of South Carolina, October 24, 2010.
23-“Graniteville community health tracking continues,” South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, January 3, 2008.
24-“Nation’s largest chlorine gas disaster leads to NIH study aimed at helping Graniteville, area communities,” U of SC; Arnold School of Public Health, June 2011. www.sph.sc.edu/news/graniteville.htm.
25-Melinda Deslatte and Michael Kunzelman, “Train derailment, acid leak forces Louisiana evacuation,” AP News, 17 May 2008.
26-Aulica Rutland, “Quick response: Rapid deployment of emergency teams kept chlorine casualties low in Alberton,” Missoulian, 19 April 1996, A-1.
27-“Atlanta and St. Andrew James Bay Train Derailment, Youngstown, Florida,” EPA 1980.
28-Jerry T. Mitchell et al, “Evacuation Behavior in Response to the Graniteville, South Carolina, Chlorine Spill,” University of South Carolina, Quick Response Research Report 178, 2005.
29-EPA START Report, Alberton Train Derailment, July 18, 1996. (EPA Alberton Superfund Site file #212005)
30-“One Pacific Steel worker has died after chlorine gas accident in Spokane,” The Spokesman-Review, 16 August 2015.
31-No author, “Chlorine accident leaves 8 in critical condition,” CNN, 13 August 2015.
32-Jane Kay, “Chlorine Accidents Take a Big Human Toll,” Scientific American, 20 October 2011.
33-L. Bach, “Rail Tanker Escape Reviewed,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, 25 October 2007.
34-Glynis Board and Anne Li, “Chlorine Leak from Axiall Corp. Sends Two to Hospital, Evacuates Communities,” West Virginia Public Broadcasting, 27 August 2016. https://www.wvpublic.org/post/chlorine-leak-axiall-corp-sends-two-hospital-evacuates-communities#stream/0
35-“Axiall Chlorine Leak Under Control,” The Intelligencier: Wheeling News Register, 27 August 2016. http://www.theintelligencer.net/news/top-headlines/2016/08/gas-leak-closes-roads/
36-“Leak of 33K Gallons of Chlorine at West Virginia Chemical Plant Under Investigation,” Insurance Journal, 1 September 2016.
37-AP, “West Virginians sue chemical producer after chlorine leak,” AP News, 2 September 2016.
38-“WVU Professor: Axiall Chlorine Spill Could Have Been Catastrophic,” The Intelligencier: Wheeling News Register, 30 October 2016. http://www.theintelligencer.net/news/top-headlines/2016/10/wvu-professor-axiall-chlorine-spill-could-have-been-catastrophic/
39-“Rupture of a DOT-105 Rail Tank Car and Subsequent Chlorine Release at Axiall Corporation. New Martinsville, West Virginia. August 27, 2016,” NTSB Accident Report. NTSB/HZM-19/01, PB2019-100294, February 11, 2019. https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/HZM1901.pdf
40-Dave Kaup, “More than 100 treated after chemical accident in northeastern Kansas,” Reuters, 21 October 2016. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kansas-chemicalspill/more-than-100-treated-after-chemical-accident-in-northeastern-kansas-idUSKCN12L1ZG
41- Elizabeth Chuck, “Chemical Spill at Kansas Plant Sends Dozens to Hospital,” NBC News, 22 October 2016. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/chemical-spill-kansas-plant-sends-dozens-hospital-n671141
42-Toriano Porter, “Two of 125 victims remain hospitalized from Atchison chemical spill,” Kansas City Star, 22 October 2016. https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article109953832.html
43-Mark Davis, “Here’s exactly why a toxic fog spread over Atchison, Kansas,” Kansas City Star, 4 January 2018.
44-“Chemical Safety Board Releases New Safety Video, Mixed Connection, Toxic Result, Detailing Key Lessons from CSB Investigation into 2016 Chemical Release at MGPI Processing Facility in Atchison, Kansas,” Chemical Safety Board News Release, 3 January 2018. https://www.csb.gov/chemical-safety-board-releases-new-safety-video-mixed-connection-toxic-result-detailing-key-lessons-from-csb-investigation-into-2016-chemical-release-at-mgpi-processing-facility-in-atchison-kansas
45-Alison Pann, “Chlorine Spill at McIntosh Chemical Plant Troubles Residents,” wkrg.com news, 2 March 2017. https://www.wkrg.com/news/chlorine-spill-at-mcintosh-chemical-plant-troubles-residents/867882790
46-Kati Weis, “911 call reveals shocking details about Olin chlorine leak in McIntosh,” Fox10tv.com, 22 March 2017. https://www.fox10tv.com/news/call-reveals-shocking-details-about-olin-chlorine-leak-in-mcintosh/article_ebd196c8-495e-5079-b6ce-a7416b84c422.html
47-Kati Weis, “Future in Jeopardy? McIntosh residents in fear after Olin chlorine gas leak,” Fox10tv.com, 23 March 2017. https://www.fox10tv.com/news/future-in-jeopardy-mcintosh-residents-in-fear-after-olin-chlorine/article_cab27003-48ef-520e-9470-ae94d761f143.html
48-Kati Weis, “Multiple chemical leaks not reported at Olin facility in McIntosh,” Fox10tv.com, 23 March 2017. https://www.fox10tv.com/news/multiple-chemical-leaks-not-reported-at-olin-facility-in-mcintosh/article_106a95d4-4fe9-557d-8525-2ced81a91813.html
49-Jane Kay, “Chlorine Accidents Take a Big Human Toll,” Scientific American, 20 October 2011.
50-EPA START Report, Alberton Train Derailment, July 18, 1996. (EPA Alberton Superfund Site file #212005)
51-DK Horton, Z Berkowitz, WE Kaye, “The public health consequences from acute chlorine releases, 1993–2000,” J Occup Environ Med, 2002, 44(10):906–913.
