USA - improperly mixed hydrofluorosilicic acid, a fluoride used in the city's drinking water, into a tank with the base chemical sodium hypochlorite

Chlorine leak forces evacuations
Gas accidentally released at city water plant
WAYNE HANSEN / Press & Sun-Bulletin
By Eric Reinagel
Press & Sun-Bulletin
BINGHAMTON -- Pure chlorine gas released from the Binghamton Water Filtration Plant on Monday afternoon caused the temporary evacuation of homes in a South Side neighborhood.

The Tompkins Street Bridge and Tompkins, Hayes, Baldwin, Broome and Webster streets and Webster Court were closed to traffic and four or five homes southeast of the plant were evacuated at 1 p.m. Monday when two water treatment chemicals were improperly combined, said city spokeswoman Leigh Ann Scheider. The majority of residents in the neighborhood were simply told to shut their windows and doors.

Scheider said a truck driver with Rochester-based Thatcher Corp. improperly mixed hydrofluorosilicic acid, a fluoride used in the city's drinking water, into a tank with the base chemical sodium hypochlorite, which is bleach used to disinfect drinking water.

Binghamton Mayor Matthew T. Ryan said the lines were clearly marked, and city officials said they are investigating how the mistake happened. Ryan said the incident didn't pose any threat to the city's water supply. He said the plant can operate on autopilot for between six and eight hours and was doing so when evacuated.

Binghamton Assistant Police Chief Joseph Zikuski said the gas was largely contained in the building, and southeasterly wind took the chemical down the bank and into the river, where the gas would turn into a liquid.

"We can't give a direct amount that was released," said Scheider, who mentioned the rain was helpful in turning the chlorine gas outside the plant into liquid.

At 1:50 p.m., Broome County's hazardous materials unit entered the building to spray the gas with water to turn it into a liquid. Water department employees were allowed to return to the building around 3:30 p.m., and the bridge and roads were re-opened.

A chlorine smell was present in the neighborhood, but Fire Chief Daniel Thomas said the gas didn't present a danger to residents. Some residents were reluctant to follow police directives to stay in their homes and could be seen sitting on their porches or walking in the neighborhood.

James Konidis, who lives at 26 Broome St., said he felt "betrayed" that emergency crews didn't evacuate him and his two toddlers from his home. He said he was watching his kids when all of a sudden he fell asleep and woke up an hour later. He said his normally active kids seemed lethargic, and he saw out the window emergency crews who had set up a staging area in front of his apartment. Hazmat crews were wearing special protective suits, but Binghamton Police and Fire crews could be seen without protective masks and suits.

"Just shut your windows and stay in your house," Konidis said he was told. He said he didn't feel safe in his house and left around 3 p.m. He felt better an hour later after taking some Vitamin C.

"I felt like I was actually in a swimming pool," said Konidis, who complained about a headache and sore throat.

Tonya Carter, 23, wasn't allowed to enter her Tompkins Street apartment when she returned home around 2 p.m. because of the gas.

"This is ridiculous," Carter said. She was leaving to pick her daughter up from school because she didn't know how the school bus would be able to enter the closed neighborhood.

Michelle Fuller, 29, who lives on a part of Tompkins Street that remained open, said she went to the store to buy bottled water just in case the water supply was affected.

"I just had a baby; that's why I'm making sure the water's safe to drink," she said.

Chlorine is commonly used as a disinfectant in public drinking water and swimming pools, and as bleach used in making paper products. Chlorine was used as a weapon during World War I -- until the gas was deemed too inhumane for war.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site, "Chlorine gas is irritating and corrosive to the respiratory tract, eyes, and skin. The effects depend on how much you are exposed to and for how long. Exposure to low concentrations of chlorine gas (1 to 10 parts per million) may cause sore throat, coughing, and eye and skin irritation. Exposure to higher levels could cause burning of the eyes and skin, rapid breathing, narrowing of the bronchi, wheezing, blue coloring of the skin, accumulation of fluid in the lungs, and pain in the lung region. Exposure to even higher levels can produce severe eye and skin burns, lung collapse, and death.

"Some people may develop an inflammatory reaction to chlorine. This condition is called reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS), a type of asthma caused by some irritating or corrosive substances."

Nine people died and 529 sought medical treatment in January 2005 when two freight trains collided 10 miles north of Atlanta, releasing about 11,500 gallons of chlorine gas. To learn more, go to http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ tfacts172.html.