FERRIC CHLORIDE SPILL ON I-75 IN RICHMOND, KY SENDS A TROOPER TO THE HOSPITAL FOR INHALATION AND EYE EXPOSURE

 FERRIC CHLORIDE SPILL ON I-75 IN RICHMOND, KY SENDS A TROOPER TO THE HOSPITAL FOR INHALATION AND EYE EXPOSURE

February 11, 2015

RICHMOND, KENTUCKY: (WKYT)

A chemical, ferric chloride, leaked out of a tanker truck on Interstate 75, sending a trooper to the hospital, and backing up traffic for hours.  We assume it was liquid ferric chloride.  The tanker was carrying 3, 240 gallons of the chemical.

The spill happened a little after 10:00 a.m. Tuesday at Mile Marker 96 in the northbound lanes. The northbound and southbound lanes were closed from northbound exit 90 to exit 97.

Kentucky State Police say southbound lanes reopened around 4:00 p.m. and northbound lanes reopened about a half-hour later on Interstate 75.

State Police tell WKYT the chemical is ferric chloride solution and it is an inhalation hazard. One trooper did go to the hospital. 

Ferric chloride is used in wastewater treatent, purifying factory effluents and deodorizing sewage, mordant in dyeing and printing textiles; pigments and inks; and photoengraving.  It is an inhalation, skin contact and ingestion hazard.  It may cause eye irritation as well.  Need to get immediate medical attention.  Unfortunately for the troopers, they are first at the scene and they do not know what chemical they are dealing with.

"It may have some inhalation hazards. Drivers driving up the interstate with their air conditioning on, if there's any of that liquid on the interstate obviously that could be a hazard to them," explained Trooper Robert Purdy with Kentucky State Police.

Madison County Emergency Management issued a shelter in place order for people living in the area. The order affected the Madison Village, Lexington Heights and Clay Lane Estates subdivisions. Shelter in place means people should stay inside, keep their windows and doors closed and listen to local radio stations for further instructions. 

Emergency management says the shelter in place order is just a precaution. There is no immediate danger.

Ferric chloride is also know as iron chloride. It's primary use is to remove impurities in water and for wastewater treatment. Inhalation may irritate the nose and throat. Ingestion causes irritation of the mouth and stomach. Prolonged contact with skin causes irritation and burns. 

Workers at Madison County Emergency Management tell WKYT interstate traffic was rerouted Tuesday afternoon onto U.S. Highway 25.

"We are headed to South Carolina from Troy, Ohio and we got stopped about 11 o'clock and we've been sitting ever since on the highway," Nick Merrell, a driver, said, "we turned around on the highway, on the median and found a hotel and got a map and found some side roads. Made it this far, but those are all stopped too. Can't even go around."

Drivers called Tuesday morning's chemical spill a traffic nightmare.

"It's frustrating. We have a three-year-old in the car and we still have eight hours of driving to go," said Merrell's wife Jamie.

State police say the driver of the tanker wasn't injured, and the trooper who went to the hospital to be checked out for possible exposure to chemicals is expected to be okay.

The tanker belongs to Triad Transport out of Oklahoma. It transports hazardous waste.

IBM CORP. WILL SETTLE A LAWSUIT BROUGHT BY 1,000 PLAINTIFFS WHO ALLEGED THAT TOXIC SPILLS FROM THE COMPANY'S FORMER ENDICOTT MANUFACTURING PLANT IN NY CAUSED ILLNESSES AND DEATHS, DAMAGED PROPERTY VALUES AND HURT BUSINESSES.

 

IBM CORP. WILL SETTLE A LAWSUIT BROUGHT BY 1,000 PLAINTIFFS WHO ALLEGED THAT TOXIC SPILLS FROM THE COMPANY'S FORMER ENDICOTT MANUFACTURING PLANT IN NY CAUSED ILLNESSES AND DEATHS, DAMAGED PROPERTY VALUES AND HURT BUSINESSES.

February 11, 2015

ENDICOTT, NEW YORK:

IBM Corp. will settle a lawsuit brought by 1,000 plaintiffs who alleged that toxic spills from the company's former Endicott manufacturing plant caused illnesses and deaths, damaged property values and hurt businesses.

Both sides announced the settlement Tuesday night without revealing details of the agreement.

"IBM and the plaintiffs' counsel have reached this agreement in an effort to resolve these cases without further burdensome and expensive litigation," said the joint statement from the litigants.

The settlement brings to a close a more-than six-year saga in which IBM and those who claim they were harmed by the toxic releases waged a fierce legal battle on monetary rewards. Affected residents, in a multimillion-dollar liability lawsuit against IBM, claimed the company should pay for the damage caused to residents around what once was the company's main domestic manufacturing facility.

From 1935 to the mid-1980s, IBM used TCE (trichloroethylene) to clean metal parts in degreasers at its industrial campus in the Village of Endicott. In 1979, the company discovered some of the TCE had pooled in groundwater beneath the facility and appeared to be migrating.

Contamination from soil vapor intrusion was detected by the late 1990s, and by 2002, IBM began testing the air at the request of state health and environmental agencies. Basement ventilation systems were eventually installed in more than 400 homes.

Settlement negotiations between the parties began last July, when state Supreme Court Justice Ferrous D. Lebous requested that representatives of both sides start meeting about an out-of-court settlement. Negotiations were apparently successful, culminating with Tuesday night's release that the parties agreed to a settlement that satisfied both sides.

Lawyers of those who brought the suit against IBM said they will conduct meetings with clients over the coming weeks to present terms of the settlement.

IBM representatives said the company will continue the environmental cleanup that has been ongoing since the widening toxic plume was discovered.

Pumps spread throughout Endicott pull pollution from the ground through structures called recovery wells. Over time, these wells have grown in number from four to more than 22, and to date, they have recovered more than 815,000 pounds of trichloroethylene and other toxic chemicals, with an unknown amount remaining beneath the village.

Company officials have never publicly explained IBM's role in the disaster, and their legal position was that the company always handled chemicals responsibly and in accordance with standards of the day. They have not denied their former operations were a primary contributor to the pollution. They have not admitted it, either, nor have they offered a detailed explanation of the source of the problem.

Representatives of the company said it was cleaning up the solvents from multiple industries that have operated in the region's industrial corridor for generations. Endicott was also home to the vast shoe manufacturing empire of Endicott Johnson Corp., once the region's largest employer.

However, the toxic-liability suit named only IBM as the source of the chemicals that tainted parts of Endicott's commercial district and nearby residences.

IBM sold the 140-acre campus to Huron Real Estate Associates in 2002. Current tenants include i3 Electronics (formerly Endicott Interconnect), BAE Systems and Binghamton University, among others.

Lawyers for IBM have long contended it was following the responsible path, picking up the sizable costs for cleaning the spill and providing venting systems for properties designated at-risk for vapor intrusion.

Both sides scored initial victories as the case wound its way through the courts. Lower courts ruled against IBM's motion to have the case dismissed, and ruled in favor of a plaintiff's motion to have charges of negligence — the underpinnings of the case — tried before a jury.

But lower court rulings also eliminated or limited some aspects of the litigation, including the charge that the pollution constitutes a trespass in all cases, and the claim that IBM should be held accountable for monitoring the medical condition of all plaintiffs, including non-property owners.

IBM was also able to limit claims for medical monitoring to only people claiming other damages, such as illness or property loss. That eliminated claims for a potentially large group of plaintiffs — renters and children, for example — who may have been exposed but did not develop illnesses or suffer property damage.

WARNING: EMS, TROOPERS AND TOW TRUCK DRIVERS ARE AT HIGH RISK OF INJURY WHILE THEY DO THEIR JOBS ON THE ROADS ASSISTING PEOPLE: TOW TRUCK DRIVER IS STRUCK AND KILLED ON MASS. PIKE BY A TRUCK

 

WARNING:  EMS, TROOPERS AND TOW TRUCK DRIVERS ARE AT HIGH RISK OF INJURY WHILE THEY DO THEIR JOBS ON THE ROADS ASSISTING PEOPLE: TOW TRUCK DRIVER IS STRUCK AND KILLED ON MASS. PIKE BY A TRUCK

February 11, 2015

I-90, AUBURN, MASSACHUSETTS:

An unidentified man was killed when he was struck by a truck on Interstate 90 East in Auburn on Wednesday, State Police said.

The incident occurred when 45-year-old Richard Taylor of Taunton, while driving a box truck along I-90 East in the right travel lane at about 3 p.m., struck a tow truck driver who was assisting a disabled vehicle in the breakdown lane, according to State Police.

The tow truck driver was pronounced dead at the scene near Exit 10. Taylor was uninjured, and no charges have been filed against him. The crash is under investigation by State Police.

No other details were available on Wednesday night.

Unfortunately the statistics do not lie:  EMS personnel, troopers and tow truck drivers are at high risk of injury while they do their jobs on the roads assisting people.  Nothing will save them: reflective clothing, signs or not they will still get hit by other drivers.  So be careful out there and do not become an injury statistic.

THE YOUNG AND THE ELDERLY ARE THE MOST FREQUENT VICTIMS OF HOUSE FIRES: 5-MONTH-OLD BOY DIES IN MUNCIE, INDIANA HOUSE FIRE

 

THE YOUNG AND THE ELDERLY ARE THE MOST FREQUENT VICTIMS OF HOUSE FIRES: 5-MONTH-OLD BOY DIES IN MUNCIE, INDIANA HOUSE FIRE

MUNCIE, INDIANA. (AP) — A five-month-old boy has died from apparent smoke inhalation following a house fire in Muncie.

According to the Delaware County Coroner Scott Hahn, Jenson Wallace was killed in Tuesday night blaze. He says the boy’s parents were in their room when they smelled smoke and then realized the nursery across the hall was on fire.

Authorities say the parents were able to get out of the house but couldn’t save their son due to the flames. They say the boy had died before firefighters were able to rescue him.

Hahn says Jenson likely died from smoke inhalation, but an official cause of death will be announced following an autopsy.

Officials believe the fire started in the nursery, but the cause of the blaze remains under investigation.