Comments on: 30K Gallon Acid Spill Cleanup Continues After Train Derailment (With Photo Gallery)

By: David Huie Green

David Huie Green — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 00:11:32 +0000

The cars aren’t melted or eaten up.
HazMat suits are worn if called for, indicating they aren’t called for.
Petroleum is not phosphoric acid.
Phosphoric acid is not petroleum.
I know one retired Exxon employee who was involved in the Exxon Valdiz spill cleanup way back then.
He never had any related problems and I doubt others did either.
Still … if it is fun to fear the unknown, enjoy.

By: Joe Schmo

Joe Schmo — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 09:55:34 +0000

BR549 says we should focus on the positives: that no one was hurt. Well clearly you don’t live in this area. I do. And everyone in my household, including all of our pets, were made sick by this incident. Furthermore, look at the photos for crying out loud! We are talking toxic corrosive acid that has apparently melted the cars carrying it — and NONE of the workers present are wearing hazmat suits?!? You can rest assured that those people were hurt and will likely have health problems popping up in the future. But what the hey… No BP oil spill cleanupers wore hazmat suits or protective gear, so are we really that surprised?? What happened to the Exxon cleanupers that didn’t wear hazmat/protective gear in Alaska in 1989? Oh that’s right… The majority of them are dead. You want to sit there and say no one was hurt, well… The truth is a lot of people were hurt by this disaster and will likely continue to hurt from it. What’s positive about that? Get real.

By: Allison Huskey

Allison Huskey — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 20:51:53 +0000

First of all, thanks so much for the wonderful follow up story with all the pictures. If I am looking at the photos correctly it looks as though the “small leak”, was really a catastrophic wreck of that tanker car. I understand other cars were above it, so I’m sure it was hard to get a good look, but if they could say that it was a “small leak from a valve on the bottom of the car” that seems as though they were able to see the valve, and wouldn’t they have seen at that point the gaping hole shown in the pictures. I have just had it with being misleaded to think that things are not as bad as they seem – I was taugh as a kid to fess up when I was wrong, and if I did not tell the whole truth I got a switch to the back of my legs or lost my privledges. Where is the accountability?

By: David Huie Green

David Huie Green — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 20:01:27 +0000

William,
I do
As best I recall, pH is the negative logarithm of the reciprocal of the hydronium ion concentration so ten to the point three would be something like twice as many hydronium ions per unit volume (off the top of my head, proper calculator being elsewhere).

Further, there are strong acids and weak acids with some being extremely harmful, others far less so. The phosphoric acid in most sodas will react with rust, releasing water and freeing rusted up nut/bolt combinations but it will not instantly eat your teeth out of your head. More concentrated will be more active just as ascetic acid will vigorously attack copper but in the dilute form of vinegar it must take much longer.

David for safe transportation
and salads

By: William

William — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 17:57:25 +0000

>>The pH of lemon juice is 2.3

Keep in mind that one full integer difference in the pH scale is 10 times more acidic.

By: David Huie Green

David Huie Green — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 16:55:23 +0000

The pH of lemon juice is 2.3

Still…
No leak to small leak to 30,000 gallons IS an interesting progression.
I assume the final limit is the entire volume of all the train’s capacity.

Any idea what the volumetric flow rate of the creek/branch is?

By: Livesbytracks

Livesbytracks — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 14:59:51 +0000

I live on River Bend and that same train was sitting waiting for another train to come by going southbound….I know that the train had sat there for a pretty long time before it moved to head north….It sat on the corner for a long time….once the south bound train had passed then a little later it started it’s way north….I don’t know about the ice but I would think the southbound train would have had problems with ice if this one did. However, it was sitting for a while so that could have been a contributor….just not sure…but just like the last derailment we may never truly know….

By: shiloh

shiloh — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 14:48:37 +0000

The only one that is respociable for the spill are the ones that wrecked. Just like BP, make the railroad pay for what they did.

By: William

William — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 22:12:59 +0000

“I have lived in this area almost 70 yrs. and that stream has always been called Fletcher branch not Fletcher creek.”

It’s Fletcher Creek according to all the maps and the government types.

By: NGD

NGD — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 21:56:34 +0000

I have lived in this area almost 70 yrs. and that stream has always been called Fletcher branch not Fletcher creek. Just saying