A Mixed Load Nightmare

It’s 4 am, and a tired truck driver leaves the lobby of the Best Western Hotel in Lordsburg, New Mexico, looking forward to a long day on the road. His rig starts with a belch of black smoke, and he inspects the tractor-trailer for signs of trouble. Everything is fine - until he spots a liquid leaking from the rear door of the trailer. He closes in on the liquid and takes a big sniff...it smells like gasoline. "O.K., what do I do now" he says to himself as the clouds of sleep drift away. He grabs the bill of lading and quickly notes the words "flammable liquid" and "oxidizer". Incompatible materials - the recipe for fire, explosion, or disaster. "Looks like this is going to be one long day", he mutters as he stumbles back to the lobby to call his breakdown service and the local fire department. The unknown liquid continues to drip from the trailer onto the asphalt, where it pools under the eerie glow of early morning twilight.

Fortunately, the breakdown service had planned ahead for a hazardous materials transportation incident - they had a spill response partnership with Cura Emergency Services (CES). Because they planned for a spill before it happened, the breakdown service made one call to CES, and an Incident Manager was assigned to the case within minutes of notification.

The Incident Manager reviewed the bill of lading and noted that the load contained paint thinner (flammable) and pool chlorine powder (oxidizer) - a very incompatible combination. The Incident Manager immediately retained a local contractor to respond to the spill. The Incident Manager discussed the site with the pre-approved contractor and told the contractor exactly what to bring to the site to investigate and remediate the release.

Meanwhile, back on site, the fire department evacuated the Best Western and several adjacent homes because of the fire and explosion threat of the leaking flammable liquid mixing with the pool chlorine powder. Events were happening quickly - there were excited firefighters, nervous State Police, and angry residents grumbling about being tossed out of their homes.

The Incident Manager took control and informed the fire chief and State Police officers present on site that the cleanup contractor was on the way. Because of the evacuations, the Incident Manager notified the National Response Center in Washington, D.C. The NRC took the spill report and assigned a confirmation number. The Incident Manager also made official State notification on behalf of the responsible party.

While the contractor was mobilizing, the Incident Manager received a call from the Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 office in Dallas, Texas. The EPA was concerned about the threat of an explosion, and they wanted to fly a response team to the site from Dallas - and send the bill to the trucking company. The Incident Manager explained site conditions to the EPA, and because of the Incident Manager’s experience as an EPA response contractor, he was able to convince the EPA that a response was not required.

A few minutes later, the Incident Manager received a call from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). They wanted to know the airport closest to the site so they could fly in a team from Washington, D.C. (again, all at the expense of the trucking company). Once again, the Incident Manager soothed the regulators and assured them that the situation was under control.

Back on site, the contractor arrived and prepared to enter the trailer. A quick chemical compatibility test confirmed that the material leaking from the trailer was a petroleum product. The contractor donned Level B personal protective equipment and opened the trailer. Once inside, the source of the leak was identified as a batch of used lawn and garden equipment that had overturned. Gasoline was pouring from full fuel tanks on the equipment. Fortunately, the oxidizer (pool chlorine powder) was undamaged and unaffected by whatever load shift overturned the lawn equipment. The spilled gasoline was cleaned up and the load was re-packed to prevent additional load shifts. Once the load was re-packed, the State Police released the trailer, and the evacuated residents were returned to their homes.

This incident shows how a pre-arranged spill response partnership with CES can reduce the cost of a hazmat incident. On this spill, two separate Federal responses were averted, the State and local authorities were managed, and a pre-qualified contractor was mobilized to respond. At CES, we have a commitment to lowering costs by understanding hazmat incidents and by carefully planning each response before the scope of work spirals out of control.