OVERTURNED TANKER TRUCK SPILLS HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL (HYDROCHLORIC ACID) IN RURAL NEBRASKA
February 4, 2015
CRAWFORD, Neb. (AP)
- A truck making a delivery to a uranium mining company has overturned and
caused a minor hazardous chemical spill in northwestern Nebraska.
Dawes County Deputy
Sheriff Scott Swickward says a tankard truck hauling a trailer slipped down a
rig early Wednesday morning while delivering a chemical to Crow Butte
Resources, Inc. near Crawford. He says
the leak resulting from the accident is not a public threat, but nearby
residents were evacuated as a precautionary measure.
Swickward says only
a valve broke on the truck, causing hydrochloric acid to drizzle out. He says
Nebraska hazmat crews have responded to the scene and are working to clean up
the spill.
Hydrochloric acid is corrosive to the eyes, skin, and mucous
membranes. Acute (short-term) inhalation exposure may cause eye, nose,
and respiratory tract irritation and inflammation and pulmonary edema in
humans. Acute oral exposure may cause corrosion of the mucous membranes,
esophagus, and stomach and dermal contact may produce severe burns, ulceration,
and scarring in humans.
Hydrochloric acid is used in the production of chlorides,
for refining ore in the production of tin and tantalum, for pickling and
cleaning of metal products, in electroplating, in removing scale from boilers,
for the neutralization of basic systems, as a laboratory reagent, as a catalyst
and solvent in organic syntheses, in the manufacture of fertilizers and dyes,
for hydrolyzing starch and proteins in the preparation of various food
products, and in the photographic, textile, and rubber industries.