2010-04-09 07:38:27 - HAZMAT - USA EDIS CODE: HZ-20100409-25628-USA
Date & Time: 2010-04-09 07:38:27 [UTC]
Area: USA, State of Pennsylvania, 50 South Washington Street, Electric Materials Co., North East Number of Injured person(s): 17
Damage level: Moderate (Level 2)
Not confirmed information! Description: Floyd Johnson Jr. was in the melt room at Electric Materials Co. on Thursday morning when he heard an intercom message ordering employees to evacuate the building. When Johnson, 41, of Erie, stepped into a hallway and glanced toward the plant's plating area, he saw an orange, yellowish, brown cloud of vapor drifting toward him. Johnson, who operates a furnace, ran for the exit after he briefly inhaled what he said smelled like sulfur. "It was from the ceiling to the floor, coming up the hallway,'' Johnson said. "When you see that coming at you, you know it's not good. I didn't want to stick around.'' One man was critically injured and another 19 employees of the North East manufacturing plant were treated for exposure after a chemical spill Thursday morning. The accident occurred when an employee in the plant's plating department dumped a mixture into a barrel containing other chemicals about 6:30 a.m., causing a reaction. "It set off a cloud that went throughout the plant," said North East Fire Chief Dave Meehl. The vapor slowly swept through the majority of the 440,000-square-foot plant at 50 S. Washington St., exposing numerous workers to the chemicals. The man dumping the mixture was in serious condition at Hamot Medical Center early Thursday afternoon. His name was not released. Meehl, who is also employed as the plant's fire chief, said some of the liquid spilled onto the man's chest. The man was the only employee to have direct contact to the chemicals.
In all, 20 plant workers and one medic were treated at area hospitals. Ten plant workers were treated at Saint Vincent Health Center, a hospital spokeswoman said. Eight workers were treated and released at Saint Vincent and two were admitted for observation, including Johnson."I'm feeling all right,'' Johnson son said Thursday afternoon. "When I got a smell and a taste of that cloud, I hurry up and put my shirt over my nose. I took off running and the rest of the people were walking pretty fast to get out of there.'' Johnson said the vapors burned his eyes. "Outside the plant, I was all right,'' he said. "On the ride in the ambulance, my nose started burning a little bit and my face felt like it was flushed. Basically, most of the guys had headaches.'' Despite what occurred Thursday, Johnson said Electric Materials is a safe place to work. "This was a one-time thing,'' Johnson said. "I don't want our plant to get a bad rap. Our shop is a good place to work. It's the best place I've ever worked at.'' Ten plant workers and one medic were treated at Hamot Medical Center. One person was in serious condition in the intensive-care unit at Hamot on Thursday night, a hospital spokeswoman said. Another patient was in fair condition, and all other patients were treated and released, she said. Saint Vincent's environmental services crew decontaminated three ambulances and medical personnel and three fire crews as a precautionary measure. Fire Chief Meehl said the plating department employee thought the barrel he was dumping into was empty. But hazmat crews later determined the barrel contained residue of another chemical, setting off the reaction.
"It was just a freak accident," Meehl said. The spill was contained to a small area around the barrel. The company is investigating the incident to determine if all procedures were followed. An estimated 50 to 60 employees immediately evacuated the plant. First-shift workers were later sent home. Electric Materials, which employs more than 300 workers, manufactures products made of copper and other alloys. The Erie County Hazmat team and four fire crews responded to the spill. Hazmat crews spent the morning taking air samples inside the building and conducting tests. Erie County Emergency Management Coordinator Dale Robinson said they found a trace amount of nitrous acid fumes inside the plant that is not considered to be dangerous. Most of the contamination had dissipated by the time they arrived. "The major threat was the inhalation into the lungs," Robinson said. Doug Ebert, a biologist with the Erie County Department of Health, said the mixture used in metal plating consists of nitric acid, sulfuric acid, sodium hydroxide and potassium silver cyanide. No dangerous amounts of chemicals were detected in the area outside the plant. Doug Winner, president of Electric Materials Co., could not be reached for comment. Meehl said the plant reopened Thursday about 3 p.m. for the start of the second shift. Robinson said similar industrial accidents involving acidic reactions are rare. "Workers for the most part know what they're handling," he said. "If you treat the chemicals with the proper respect, that risk goes way down."
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