DUNN, N.C. (WNCN) – A hazmat situation at Brainerd Chemical located at 1600 South Wilson Avenue in Dunn injured a worker Saturday morning, officials say.
Emergency crews were notified of a possible explosion shortly after 9 a.m. The incident led to an evacuation around the plant for several hours.
Officials say once crews arrived, it was determined that no explosion or fire had occurred. Their investigation revealed that an accidental release of hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid had taken place. The two chemicals were being mixed to make commercial grade disinfectant used to clean and disinfect poultry farms.
One employee received minor injuries and has been treated and released from the hospital. Officials have not said how the employee was injured.
Officials say the spill was contained on site but a radius of 600 meters from the building was evacuated as standard protocol and precaution. The evacuation included businesses and four homes.
The evacuation was lifted by 2 p.m. but crews were still on the scene monitoring air tests.
===========
Hydrogen peroxide, sulfuric acid spill at Dunn plant; release contained to site
Updated 6:12 p.m. yesterday
Dunn, N.C. — Multiple agencies responded Saturday morning to an accidental chemical release in Dunn that prompted evacuations and shut down a nearby road.
Fayetteville's hazardous material team responded around 9:30 a.m. to the Brainerd Chemical building at 1600 South Wilson Ave. to assist Harnett County Emergency Management with a release of chemicals.
Local emergency crews were initially notified of a possible explosion, but when crews arrived, they found there was no explosion or fire. Officials said there was an accidental release of hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid, which was being used to make commercial-grade disinfectant.
Crews evacuated people in a 600-meter radius around the building, which included some businesses and four private residences.
The incident interrupted a laid-back Saturday morning for Pragna Chasatiya, owner of the nearby Dawson Motor Court.
"I was ready to drink my coffee. I just had one sip and an officer came by here with a light on and he said 'come on, get out! Tell everybody we got to go,'" Chasatiya said. "I could smell it, when I walked outside."
Officers went door to door evacuating people and Maurice Seaberry said he was told "if you don't want to die, you need to leave."
"So I got my wife up, we got dressed and left," Seaberry said.
One employee suffered minor injuries but was treated and released from a local hospital.
The release of the chemicals was controlled and contained on site.
Saturday's incident marked the second emergency at the plant in the past two years. In September 2015, hydrochloric acid vapor escaped from a tank, prompting an evacuation of neighboring businesses and homes. Nobody was hurt.
Brainerd, which is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, employs 14 people at the Dunn plant. Company officials declined to speak about Saturday's incident. Brainerd Chemical is a regional provider and distributor of chemicals for research facilities, industrial plants, agricultural operations, water treatment and several other industrie
THERE IS BLOODBATH DURING THE WEEKENDS ON THE DEADLY U.S. ROADS:
Coroner IDs victims of 3 separate deadly crashes
Updated on June 24, 2017
By Steve Novak
snovak@lehighvalleylive.com,
For lehighvalleylive.com
Three people died Friday due to separate car crashes, one the victim of an accident more than two weeks earlier, the Lehigh County Coroner's Office reported Saturday.
Shirley Lendl, 80, of the 3100 block of Parkview Drive in Whitehall, died Friday from complications of multiple blunt force injuries from a crash June 6 in the 2900 block of Hamilton Boulevard in Allentown, the coroner reported. She was a passenger in the two-car wreck and her death was ruled an accident. - Dennis Bray, 67, of Andreas in Schuylkill County was killed in a crash 8:30 a.m. Friday on Route 309 in Lynn Township. Pennsylvania State Police had already identified Bray as the victim after his vehicle collided with another one heading north in the southbound lanes. The coroner on Saturday revealed that Bray died of multiple blunt force injuries and ruled the death an accident.
- Willett Roode, 69, of Coaldale in Schuylkill County, died Friday afternoon at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township after a crash about 4:12 p.m. in Summit Hill, Carbon County, the coroner said. He was the driver of a vehicle that struck a tree, and the coroner determined he died from multiple blunt force injuries.
The coroner's office and local police are continuing the investigations into each crash.
===========
Wrong-way driver led to fatal Route 309 crash, troopers say
Updated on June 23, 2017 at 8:27 PM Posted on June 23, 2017 at 4:35 PM
By Sarah Cassi
scassi@lehighvalleylive.com,
For lehighvalleylive.com
Pennsylvania State Police released the identity of a man pronounced dead Friday morning following a head-on crash on Route 309 in Lehigh County.
Dennis Bray, 67, of Andreas in Schuylkill County, was traveling on Route 309 South in Lynn Township about 8:30 a.m. when he encountered a vehicle traveling north in the southbound lanes, troopers said.
Lehigh County Deputy Coroner Cassie Schiffner pronounced Bray dead at 9:20 a.m. at the scene.
State police did not release any information about the other vehicle or its driver, and did not immediately respond to a message about the crash.
Deadly crash closes Route 309 in Lehigh County
The coroner's office was responding to the 2-vehicle crash on Route 309, near Gun Club Road, in Lehigh County.
The drivers swerved to avoid each other, but ended up hitting head-on in the left lane of Route 309 North just south of Gun Club Road, state police said.
Bray suffered fatal injuries as a result of the crash, which remains under investigation, according to police. The coroner's office, however, said an autopsy would be performed Saturday to try to determine the exact cause of death.
Both directions of Route 309 were closed, but reopened in the afternoon.
State police and the coroner's office were continuing to investigate.
==============
http://metroforensics.blogspot.com/2015/03/united-states-still-has-one-of-highest.html
UNITED
STATES STILL HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST ROAD ACCIDENT DEATH AND INJURY RATES IN THE
WORLD: 34,000 DIE AND 2.5 MILLION INJURED EACH YEAR.
Despite the improvements in
road safety, the United States has one of the highest death rates at about 1 person
dead per 10,000 people. Unfortunately, only undeveloped countries have higher
death rate.
Some states, such as Texas
and West Virginia (sorry, WV, despite your tremendous progress in traffic
safety, you are still at the top of the worst-death-rate list) have death rates
of nearly 1.5 percent, i.e., fifty percent more people die compared to the
national death rate.
Approximately 34,000 people
are getting killed each year. In the 1950s and 1960s, about 55,000 people
used to die on the roads – so, there has been improvement in the number of
dead.
However, the number of
injured is rising. Roughly 2.5 million are injured (yes, you read it
correctly – 2.5 million injured) per year. That is, 1 percent (1%) of the
population that is eligible to drive is injured every year.
It is worse than a war zone
out there. So, please be safe and be on the lookout for weaving-through-the-traffic
drivers, crazy drivers, reckless drivers, sick drivers, medical-condition
drivers, sleepy drivers, negligent drivers, stupid drivers, careless drivers,
drunk drivers, speeding drivers, drugged drivers, texting drivers,
talking-on-the-phone drivers, looking-at-the-GPS drivers, hurry-hurry drivers,
tailgating drivers, upset drivers, eating-while-driving drivers,
putting-the-lipstick-on-while-driving drivers, elderly drivers, and so on.
