Acid spill cleaned up at Oxnard garbage facility
Christian Martinez, Ventura County Star
August 16, 2018
OXNARD, CA -
Fire crews contained an acid spill at an Oxnard garbage and recycling site Thursday morning that forced about 250 people from the facility, officials said.
The incident was reported just before 11 a.m. at the Del Norte Regional Recycling & Transfer Station at 111 South Del Norte Blvd., authorities said.
Oxnard and Ventura County fire crews responded to the incident. City officials who handle hazardous-material incidents also were called to investigate.
Todd Vazquez-Housley, manager for Oxnard’s Environmental Resources Division, said swimming pool chemicals had been spilled in the main area where trucks unload their waste.
Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Capt. Brian McGrath said about a gallon of the substance had spilled from one of eight containers.
The spill forced as many as 250 people to be evacuated from the recycling center, including 172 employees.
McGrath said one person was assessed, treated and released at the scene. Cleanup was completed by 1:11 p.m.
Investigators would be looking over surveillance video to find the source of the chemicals, Vazquez-Housley said.
As the cleanup took place, trucks queued up on the street outside, waiting to get into the facility.
In March 2017, Del Norte also had a hazardous-materials incident from a radiological substance. Two workers who were exposed were treated on scene.
