Homeland Security ????
You Are a Suspect
You Are a Suspect
11/14/2002
By WILLIAM SAFIRE
WASHINGTON If the Homeland Security Act is not amended before passage, here
is what will happen to you:
Every purchase you make with a credit card, every magazine subscription you
buy and medical prescription you fill, every Web site you visit and e-mail you send or receive, every academic grade you receive, every bank deposit you
make, every trip you book and every event you attend all these transactions
and communications will go into what the Defense Department describes as "a virtual, centralized grand database."
To this computerized dossier on your private life from commercial sources,
add every piece of information that government has about your passport application, driver's license and bridge toll records, judicial and divorce
records, complaints from nosy neighbors to the F.B.I., your lifetime paper trail plus the latest hidden camera surveillance
and you have the
supersnoop's dream: a "Total Information Awareness" about every U.S. citizen.
This is not some far-out Orwellian scenario. It is what will happen to your
personal freedom in the next few weeks if John Poindexter gets the unprecedented power he seeks.
Remember Poindexter? Brilliant man, first in his class at the Naval Academy,
later earned a doctorate in physics, rose to national security adviser under President Ronald Reagan. He had this brilliant idea of secretly selling
missiles to Iran to pay ransom for hostages, and with the illicit proceeds to illegally support contras in Nicaragua.
A jury convicted Poindexter in 1990 on five felony counts of misleading
Congress and making false statements, but an appeals court overturned the verdict because Congress had given him immunity for his testimony. He
famously asserted, "The buck stops here," arguing that the White House staff, and not the president, was responsible for fateful decisions that might prove
embarrassing.
This ring-knocking master of deceit is back again with a plan even more
scandalous than Iran-contra. He heads the "Information Awareness Office" in the otherwise excellent Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which
spawned the Internet and stealth aircraft technology. Poindexter is now realizing his 20-year dream: getting the "data-mining" power to snoop on
every public and private act of every American.
Even the hastily passed U.S.A. Patriot Act, which widened the scope of the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and weakened 15 privacy laws, raised requirements for the government to report secret eavesdropping to Congress
and the courts. But Poindexter's assault on individual privacy rides roughshod over such oversight.
He is determined to break down the wall between commercial snooping and
secret government intrusion. The disgraced admiral dismisses such necessary differentiation as bureaucratic "stovepiping." And he has been given a $200
million budget to create computer dossiers on 300 million Americans.
When George W. Bush was running for president, he stood foursquare in defense
of each person's medical, financial and communications privacy. But Poindexter, whose contempt for the restraints of oversight drew the Reagan
administration into its most serious blunder, is still operating on the presumption that on such a sweeping theft of privacy rights, the buck ends
with him and not with the president.
This time, however, he has been seizing power in the open. In the past week
John Markoff of The Times, followed by Robert O'Harrow of The Washington Post, have revealed the extent of Poindexter's operation, but editorialists
have not grasped its undermining of the Freedom of Information Act.
Political awareness can overcome "Total Information Awareness," the combined
force of commercial and government snooping. In a similar overreach, Attorney General Ashcroft tried his Terrorism Information and Prevention System
(TIPS), but public outrage at the use of gossips and postal workers as snoops caused the House to shoot it down. The Senate should now do the same to this
other exploitation of fear.
The Latin motto over Poindexter"s new Pentagon office reads "Scientia Est
Potentia"  "knowledge is power." Exactly: the government's infinite
knowledge about you is its power over you. "We're just as concerned as the
next person with protecting privacy," this brilliant mind blandly assured The Post. A jury found he spoke falsely before.
Fake Homeland Security Inspection at Chemical Plant
Jan. 26, 2004
State Investigates Legitimacy of Homeland Security Inspection
November 23, 2003
CHATTANOOGA (AP) -- State officials are investigating whether a man who recently inspected a chemical plant in Chattanooga was an official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as he claimed, or an impostor.
Mjr. Gen. Jerry Humble, Tennessee's chief of homeland security, said his group is aware of the situation and intends to get to the bottom of it.
Officials were informed of the man's visit to the Chattanooga BASF plant during a meeting of the Local Emergency Planning Committee.
David Darnell, BASF's safety manager, told the committee that a man identifying himself as a federal inspector called to ask about some tanker rail cars at the plant.
Darnell told the man to "bring some identification" to the plant, where he could get his questions answered in person.
The man, wearing a uniform and armed with a pistol, arrived several days later.
Humble said the Department of Homeland Security has not informed his office of any plans to inspect industrial plants in Tennessee.
In addition, he said, it is standard practice for armed federal agents to notify local law enforcement agencies when they come into town.
http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=1537839
the article doesn't tell as much of the story as mom's local news did.
Here's what the local news reported per my mom:
Guy calls BASF Chemical Plant in Chattanooga and starts asking a bunch of questions and says he's with Homeland Security. They told him he'd have to come in because they couldn't answer his questions on the phone. 3 days later the guy shows up in a "uniform" and packing a gun. Asks BASF all about their operation, he was really interesting in the rail cars that enter the plant with tanker cars. Asking the schedule of them, if they can be rented and other various things. The stupid people never checked him out and told him everything he wanted to know. Days later the real Homeland Security had contacted them about uping security at the plant because of possible terrorism etc. And they said yeah one of your guys was already out here...HS was like we haven't sent anybody there. So isn't that just great!
http://www.stevequayle.com/News.alert/04_Global/040126.fake.security.html
A security guard at the BASF Corp. ammonia terminal in Freeport, Texas, 60 miles south of Houston, was shot late on Friday by a man in a pickup truck parked outside the terminal's fence and within sight of a multistory ammonia tank, said Henrietta Gonzalez, chief of the Freeport Police Department.
The guard was listed in good condition on Saturday at an area hospital where he was recovering from a gunshot wound to the shoulder, said BASF spokesman Tim Fitzpatrick.
Agents from the FBI, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Texas Department of Public Safety and U.S. Coast Guard were in Freeport investigating the shooting, Gonzalez said.
Chemical plants and refineries have tightened security since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks for fear they may be targets in a future attack.
An FBI spokesman was not immediately available to comment.
The guard spotted the pickup truck while making his rounds outside the terminal's grounds. When confronted, the truck driver, whom the guard described as having a heavy Middle Eastern accent, said he was taking pictures of the lights of the ammonia terminal and adjacent port, Gonzalez said.
The guard said he turned away to make a radio call and then looked back to see the driver pointing a handgun at him. He was shot as he moved to run away and the driver sped off.
The guard shot at a chemical plant near a Texas port is sticking to his story about a Mideast gunman, but he says the FBI doesn't believe him.
The shooting in Freeport at a BASF ammonia depot occurred late Friday night in a muddy lot outside the plant.
Robert House was working security when he said he noticed a suspect in a white pickup truck taking pictures of the facility's lights.
House says when he confronted the driver, a Middle Easterner with a thick accent, the unarmed guard was shot in the shoulder.
Hours after the incident, FBI agents came to the hospital and gave House a lie detector test.
"The test was telling him that I shot myself," said House. "And I told him no, that I didn't, and he said that he could see it in my eyes that I was crying out for some type of help."
On the record, investigators said House has no criminal record, and that police are still investigating his initial story.
The FBI has insisted from the beginning the shooting does not have any connection to terrorism.
House is recuperating at home and has hired an attorney.
The mystery continues to raise questions about terrorism. Despite the FBI's assurances, investigators from the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs, the U.S. Coast Guard, state police and local law enforcement are all involved in the probe.
Some of those sources have told Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin they suspect the guard stumbled into a terrorism reconnaissance operation.
The gunman, described as a mustachioed man with a dark complexion, dark hair, heavy 5 o'clock shadow and a thick Middle Eastern accent, was driving a white, club cab, half-ton Chevrolet pickup with black trim at the bottom and dark-tinted windows. The truck had no front license plate.
House said he questioned the driver of the truck about why he was in the vicinity of a large, multi-story ammonia tank. He told police the truck driver explained that he was taking pictures of it. When the guard turned to radio for help, the driver pulled out a handgun and shot House in the shoulder.
Freeport is about 60 miles south of Houston, but only a few miles from Texas City on the gulf coast, where one of the worst disasters in the history of the United States took place April 16, 1947, when the French ship SS Grandcamp, carrying ammonium nitrate, exploded at the docks. The entire dock area was destroyed, along with the nearby Monsanto Chemical Company, other smaller companies, grain warehouses, and numerous oil and chemical storage tanks.
Smaller explosions and fires were ignited by flying debris, not only along the industrial area, but throughout the city.
Fragments of iron, parts of the ship's cargo, and dock equipment were hurled into businesses, houses, and public buildings. A 15-foot tidal wave caused by the force swept the dock area.
The concussion of the explosion, felt as far away as Port Arthur, damaged or destroyed at least 1,000 residences and buildings throughout Texas City. The ship SS High Flyer, in dock for repairs and also carrying ammonium nitrate, was ignited by the first explosion; it was towed 100 feet from the docks before it exploded about 16 hours later, at 1:10 a.m. the next day.
The first explosion had killed 26 Texas City firemen and destroyed all of the city's fire-fighting equipment, including four trucks, leaving the city helpless in the wake of the second explosion. No central disaster organization had been established by the city, but most of the chemical and oil plants had disaster plans that were quickly activated. Although power and water were cut off, hundreds of local volunteers began fighting the fires and doing rescue work. Red Cross personnel and other volunteers from surrounding cities responded with assistance until almost 4,000 workers were operating; temporary hospitals, morgues, and shelters were set up.
Probably the exact number of people killed will never be known, although the ship's anchor monument records 576 persons known dead, 398 of whom were identified, and 178 listed as missing. All records of personnel and payrolls of the Monsanto Company were destroyed, and many of the dock workers were itinerants and thus difficult to identify. Almost all persons in the dock area – firemen, ships' crews, and spectators – were killed, and most of the bodies were never recovered; 63 bodies were buried unidentified. The number of injured ranged in the thousands, and loss of property totaled about $67 million.
The Texas City incident was the result of an accident. Terrorism experts have been examining the tragedy to determine the potential damage in a deliberate attack on a port city by a ship laden with chemicals, explosives – even, perhaps, a nuclear weapon. And that was before this latest, highly suspicious attack.
Other gulf ports have been on heightened terrorist alert.
G2 Bulletin sources say a mysterious armada of al-Qaida ships has been purchased to target, among other things, civilian ports, cruise ships and oil rigs.
Chemical plants and refineries have tightened security since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks for fear they may be targets in a future attack. Ammonia can be explosive when mixed with air. In addition, it should be noted that BASF is the second largest producer in the world of ammonium sulfate, a fertilizer with explosive tendencies.
The Ludwigshafen, Germany-based BASF is one of the world's largest chemical manufacturers. The Freeport complex includes 16 plants, including an ammonia plant next to the deepwater cargo port. The facility produces adhesives, super absorbers, paints, nylons and plastics.
"We don't believe we have any kind of a terrorist threat or that there was any way any kind of a terrorist planning or organization was going on with what occurred last night," said Bob Doguim of the FBI's Houston office immediately following the attack.
But other law-enforcement sources say common sense dictates that, in this case, with this extraordinary set of circumstances, "terrorism is everyone's first guess."
One law enforcement source said the signs point to this incident being a "terrorist reconnaissance operation."
"There are no signs of any explosives," he said. "There are no signs of any renegade ships in the area. But there is a strong likelihood this shooter and any companions that may have been with him were scoping out a possible target for terrorism."
By JENNIFER C. KERR, AP
WASHINGTON (Jan. 31, 04) - Five U.S.-bound flights from Britain and France were canceled Saturday because of security concerns. The U.S. government said it had fresh indications of al-Qaida's continued interest in targeting commercial planes flying to the United States.
British Airways grounded the same flight scheduled Sunday and Monday from London's Heathrow Airport to Dulles International Airport outside Washington, as well as the return flights. Also canceled was a flight from London to Miami on Sunday.
Air France scrubbed the same flight set for Sunday and Monday from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris to Dulles. As a result, the outbound flights were canceled.
A U.S. government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said there were concerns about a handful of flights on those foreign carriers and a U.S.-based airline that flies internationally. The official declined to identify the third carrier.
Officials from U.S. airlines contacted Saturday that fly abroad said they were aware of any security threats against their companies or of any flights canceled. Those carriers were American, Delta, United, Northwest and US Airways.
"We continue to receive threat reporting that indicates al Qaida's desire to target international aviation,'' said Brian Roehrkasse, spokesman for the Homeland Security Department.
Despite those threats, Roehrkasse said the department had no plans to raise the nation's terror alert level from yellow, or elevated risk of terrorist attack. Yellow is in the middle of the five-color coded scale.
The decision to cancel the flights was made jointly by the U.S., British and French governments, according to a senior U.S. law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity.
The U.S. government official said the threat information picked up by intelligence agencies specifically mentioned British Airways flight 223 from London to Dulles; British Airways flight 207 from London to Miami; and Air France flight 026 from Paris to Washington.
An official close to French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin told The Associated Press that the Air France flights were canceled because of "serious threats.'' The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to elaborate.
A British Airways spokeswoman said the airline acted on the advice of the British government.
The U.S. government official said the three countries discussed a variety of aviation security steps, such as sky marshals on the U.S.-bound flights, but that Washington placed no demands on the French or British.
The official said there was no direct intelligence to indicate any threat to Sunday's Super Bowl game in Houston.
A White House spokesman, Trent Duffy, said the cancellations show that "the administration is going to stand guard and protect the American people.''
The law enforcement official said that for weeks, intelligence sources have picked up indications of al-Qaida's continued interest in using airlines as weapons. But the official said that in the past week the intelligence became more specific, singling out certain flights and airlines.
Flight 223 did take off Saturday from London for Washington, with an evening arrival expected. No extra security measures were visible around the jet when it left Heathrow.
As Dennis Lopez, a lawyer from Tampa, Florida, boarded the flight, he said the talk of all the cancelations was unnerving.
"I'm a little worried and if I had another flight arrangement right now that could take me there I would definitely take advantage of that,'' he said.
He said he had just arrived from Kuwait and "breathed a sigh of relief'' when he landed in London, thinking he was out of the area of most concern. "It hadn't occurred to me that this flight could be a possible target,'' he said.
Some of the flights that have raised concerns are the same as those that drew increased attention when the U.S. terror alert was raised temporarily to orange, or high risk, before Christmas.
It returned on Jan. 9 to yellow, though government officials said heightened security would remain at some airports and in some cities, such as New York, Washington and Los Angeles.
01-31-04 1644EST
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press.
Red Leifson (L) a firefighter from Spanish Fork, Utah stands at the edge of a 30 foot plus deep crater on U.S. Highway 6 at mile marker 191 in Spanish Fork Canyon as a Utah Department of Transportation worker walks in the bottom after a truck reportedly carrying blasting caps and cord overturned and exploded Wednesday August 10, 2005. The explosion took out both lanes of the highway which will be closed indefinitely to both west and east bound traffic. (AP Photo/George Frey)
Utah Highway Patrol officials said the crater is about 30 feet deep and 80 feet wide.
The driver was able to get out of the truck and warn other motorists to stay away before the blast happened.
The rig had just left a commercial explosives maker in the area.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, I
Local Men Involved in Huge
Explosion
August 11, 2005
Two local men were lucky to be alive Thursday.
They were driving a semi truck filled with more than 35,000 pounds of
explosives Wednesday when the truck overturned and exploded.
The huge blast left a massive crater in the road in the Spanish Fork Canyon
in Utah.
Fortunately, the two men made it out of the truck before it blew up.
Travis Stewart from Rexburg and Troy Lysford from Blackfoot were in the
vehicle. Stewart was driving at the time. He was in fair condition and was
alert and talking when he arrived at the hospital. Lysford was also doing
well. He said he feels lucky to be alive.
Thursday, August 11, 2005 - 12:00 AM
Eyewitnesses say truck was 'gone' after explosion
Rashae Ophus Johnson DAILY HERALD
The quickest route to Denver from Salt Lake is northeast through Wyoming, but the two chemical engineers weren't in any rush Wednesday as they headed to a job site in Colorado.
So Ed Cerise and Glenn Welch instead headed southeast on U.S. Highway 6.
This is the scenic route, and the sights on Wednesday were awesome indeed.As they maneuvered the dizzying "red narrows" passage through Spanish Fork Canyon, the men encountered a truck sprawled on its side and blazing.
"The fire got bigger and bigger and started moving toward the cab," Cerise said. "It was burning way too fast to be a normal load."
No one realized the unmarked truck was loaded with 35,500 pounds of explosives, but the scorching heat of the inferno nudged the small crowd of onlookers back from the scene. The truck tires burst, and they feared the fuel tank would erupt.
"We were starting to walk away, and it just blew up -- the whole thing," Cerise said. "I remember looking up, and I could see the shockwaves going over."
They instinctively dropped to the ground.
When they stood again moments later, "The truck was gone," Cerise said. "There was just the mountainside."
"You get up from that -- your ears are deaf, stuff starts coming down around you," Welch said. "Then everything is pretty much silent."
A gaping hole three stories deep interrupted Highway 6 where the truck lay smoldering moments earlier. Spot fires flickered on the mountain. And good thing those engineers were in no hurry -- the blast flattened the cab of Welch's Dodge Ram work vehicle like a convertible top.
For at least two days, no one better be in a hurry to cross the Uintas between Provo and Price. None of three recommended detours are welcome alternatives for the average 8,000 cars which pass through Spanish Fork Canyon each day.
Blaine Evans, owner of Blaine Evans & Son Trucking, operates about six runs per week to Phoenix via Highway 6. He estimates a detour will add about 100 miles and two hours each way, or more than $100 extra in gas costs per run.
"For a truck it's not that feasible," he said.
But at least Evans and other Birdseye residents still can access their homes. The semi exploded just past the Highway 89 junction at Thistle, allowing commuters to drive just far enough up the canyon to turn off and reach Birdseye.
Loyal Clark, information officer for Uinta National Forest, said the fallout won't affect campers or hikers much either. The area is so remote that the nearest campground is Diamond Fork, about 8 miles from the scene. Campers there heard nothing.
For Troy Lysfjord, co-driver of the semi and a military veteran, the blast was like nothing he ever heard. He was just settling down for a nap in the sleeper cabin when the truck careened and tipped on its side.
"One minute I'm laying down and the next I'm standing, being thrown into ... everything," he said. "We could hear people outside. They were letting us know we needed to get out, the truck was on fire."
Lysfjord helped driving partner Travis Stewart out of his seat belt, and the men, both from Idaho, climbed outside. Lysfjord said they both have completed intense training to haul hazardous materials and knew what to do about a burning semi full of explosives.
"You don't even bother messing with it," he said. "You just clear the area."
He wasn't far from the truck when it exploded.
"I was close enough that it literally pulled me up off my feet and threw me on the ground," he said. "It was a tremendous force. I felt it literally all the way through me before it even hit me."
Lysfjord and the driver, at separate hospitals in Provo and Salt Lake City, were in critical condition initially but were upgraded during the evening.
The disaster didn't scare Lysfjord enough to quit; he plans to keep on trucking.
"I feel very lucky to be here," he said. "It's just one of those canyons that needs to be respected."
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.Wednesday's accident in Spanish Fork Canyon illustrates two things:
The highway needs safety improvements.
Shipping nuclear waste through Spanish Fork Canyon is a really bad idea.
The tractor trailer carrying more than 17 tons of explosives blew up after overturning in the canyon near Thistle.
Fortunately nobody was killed in the blast, which obliterated the truck and touched off brush fires in the surrounding hills. It also blew a deep crater into the road, closing off the canyon to traffic for 36 hours or so. Motorists were forced into a meandering detour to get around the blast site.U.S. 6, the highway that traverses the canyon, has a reputation as one of the most dangerous roads in the nation. From 1999 to 2002, there were 90 deaths and 400 people injured in 3,000 collsions in the canyon, the main road that links the Wasatch Front to southeastern Utah.
The road is narrow, with steep grades and a number of sharp turns. While it's especially hazardous in the winter, when roads are slick, the danger doesn't go away with summer, as hoards of people with boats and campers head south to Lake Powell.
Utah has already taken some stopgap measures to make the road safer, such as widening the painted lines on the road, putting up signs warning of curves, designating no-passing zones and installing a rumble strip in the median to warn people when they're drifting into oncoming traffic. But it's not enough.
A lasting solution is to widen the road to four lanes, straighten out some curves and reduce grades. Unfortunately, such things cost money, and the state's resources are stretched thin. The federal highway bill is supposed to have $3 million earmarked for improvements on U.S. 6. It's not enough to completely fix the road, but it's a good start. Maybe this explosion will help our congressional delegation shake some more money loose.
The accident should also underscore the foolishness of shipping nuclear waste through the canyon en route to the Goshute reservation in Skull Valley.
While an accident involving a nuclear waste shipment won't blow a hole through two highway lanes and disrupt a railroad track, its effects could be even more devastating. If a nuclear waste cask is breached in an accident, bystanders and responders would be exposed to radiation. It may not be enough to kill immediately, but it could later.
Cleanup would be more difficult. After Wednesday's explosion, some quick work with a coupld of bulldozers will get the highway open in short order -- just as soon as the fires are put out, the remains of the truck are cleared and the crater filled in. A radiation release would require a serious environmental decontamination and would cost far more than a simple reconstruction of a small portion of road.
Nuclear energy advocates argue that the casks can withstand accidents like this, and there hasn't been an traffic accident in which radiation was released. But it's only a matter of time. If waste is shipped either to Skull Valley or to Yucca Mountain, that risk increases.
We shouldn't forget that engineers had assured people the World Trade Center's twin towers could survive a direct hit from an airliner. Unfortunately, their calculations didn't take into account a fully-fueled 757 ramming the towers at full speed. Safety claims for nuclear waste casks are no different. And it does not inspire confidence to know that little safety testing has been performed on the casks, and the money for additional tests was cut back.
It could be argued that shipping high explosives is relatively safe when precautions are taken, yet Wednesday's canyon blast shows that accidents can and do happen. The same is true with high-level nuclear waste.
The truck accident should be a reminder that putting the most dangerous materials known to man on roads or rails, especially through treacherous canyons, is a really bad idea.
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A6.
A train passes on repaired tracks in Spanish Fork Canyon as crews fill the
crater left by Wednesday's truck blast.
Jeffrey
D. Allred, Deseret Morning News
By Nicole Warburton and Jeremy
Twitchell
Deseret Morning News
SPANISH FORK CANYON — At midafternoon Thursday, crews were still battling
spot fires caused by a massive explosion along U.S. 6.
The 35-foot deep crater in the highway?
Nearly filled.
The road will be open this morning, less than
48 hours after the blast occurred.
"I think it's another example of how
Utahns can pull together in a crisis situation and make things happen,"
said Nile Easton, spokesman for the Utah Department of Transportation.
"When we get our back up to the wall, we can do amazing things."
About 2 p.m. on Thursday, Easton was standing
about a quarter-mile from the blast site, watching as crews hauled dirt up the
canyon, dumped it, then removed debris. UDOT officials were first allowed on
the site about 4 p.m. on Wednesday. By 10 p.m. Wednesday, crews had begun the
tedious process of hauling dirt and removing debris.
Less than 20 hours later, crews were waiting to
begin paving operations. In total, about 4,500 tons of gravel were used to
fill the crater. About 350 loads were taken up the canyon.
The fact that fill work was nearly done within
24 hours of the explosion, said Easton, is a testament to quick action by
volunteers and a joint effort with contractors and the state. When work is
completed this morning, it will be permanent, he said.
"What we did is rally the troops from all
around the county," said Easton. "We have trucks and crews from
Nephi, Eureka, all over Utah County here."
Seventeen UDOT snowplow trucks were used to
haul fill material. Staker Paving and Construction provided other heavy
equipment including backhoes, tractors and asphalt.
Tracy Conti, UDOT Region 3 director, said no
major road projects were delayed by the shuffling of UDOT equipment and
workers to the blast site. Workers — who were offered overtime pay — were
taken from small maintenance projects, he said. The snowplow trucks were not
being used at other sites.
As for the cost of repairs, contingency money
in UDOT's maintenance budget will be used to pay the contractor. Efforts are
being made to seek reimbursement for costs through insurance.
"My supervisors are very, very good at
economically doing some amazing things," said Conti. "They love it
when they get a situation like this — a real project where there is a lot to
do in a short amount of time."
One of the primary challenges UDOT faced was
damage to the sandstone wall on the north side of the road. The blast jarred
several large boulders loose, so a track-hoe was used to knock them loose,
then jackhammers to break them up.
At the work site, crews and machinery were
working in a tight area, something that made the job difficult, said Easton.
Officials were also on-site from the U.S. Forest Service, railroad and
fiber-optic companies.
CentraCom, an independent telephone company,
had to replace 416 feet of copper wire and 600 feet of fiber-optic cable that
serve the residents of Scofield.
Union Pacific crews had one of the two tracks
damaged in the explosion reopened Wednesday evening. The westbound track,
which was more heavily damaged, was expected to be completed Thursday evening.
However, the crews with arguably the most
difficult job in the wake of the explosion were the firefighters from the U.S.
Forest Service.
Debris from the truck showered along the
mountainside around the blast area over a radius of as much as 200 yards.
Chris Church, the incident commander for the Forest Service, said crews were
dealing with about 200 different hot spots. Fortunately, he said, the fires
were not spreading.
"Because of all the snow we had last
winter, most of the fuels that are higher on the mountain, like the sage and
the oak, have a high moisture content," Church said.
The fires spread so slowly, in fact, that the
Forest Service didn't put crews on the scene until Thursday morning, citing
the potential danger of undetonated explosives. A helicopter began battling
the blazes Wednesday night, and 30 firefighters and two engines arrived on the
scene Thursday morning.
Church said the fires would be contained by
this afternoon at the latest.
The incident remains under investigation by
police.
"Speed was definitely a factor," Utah
Highway Patrol Lt. Ken Peay said. "We know how fast he was going, but
we're not ready to release that at this time."
Peay said UHP will be working with the Utah
County Attorney's Office to screen possible charges against Travis Stewart,
the truck's driver.
The findings of UHP's investigation will be
turned over the County Attorney today, and UHP will wait to see what charges,
if any, are filed before issuing any citations.
"We don't want to issue anything right
now," Peay said. "You don't ever file a lesser charge that's part of
a larger charge."
Updated:
Jul 29, 2005 4:52pm
A truck driver is lucky to be alive after
his 18-wheeler malfunctioned and exploded on the
Interstate Friday morning. The incident caused major
delays and other minor accidents.
An 18 wheeler exploded on the interstate Friday morning, shooting flames and smoke into the air for miles. That fire on I-35 in Bell County caused major traffic delays and a number of other accidents from the backup.
It happened near Highway 190 in Belton, backing up traffic on both highways.
The driver was hauling metal from Laredo to Little Rock, Arkansas when he suddenly saw smoke and then flames coming from his truck.
Belton Fire Chief Roy Harmon says, "He then pulled off the highway, exited the service road got out without injury, the truck then became fully involved and the front of the truck exploded."
Investigators aren't sure what caused the initial truck fire, but believe several diesel explosions blew two tires off the 18-wheeler. It only took firefighters about eight minutes to put it out, but because of heavy smoke and spilled fuel in the area, the north and southbound lanes of I-35 and the eastbound lane of 190 had to be shut down.
Belton Police Commander Michael Rhoden says, "With accidents of this type, the biggest thing is to prevent other accidents from happening because onlookers coming, but I heard a lot of tires screeching out there."
Rhoden says at least two more accidents happened because of the explosion. He says drivers simply weren't paying attention and rear-ended each other. Police say it’s amazing no one was seriously injured in the fire and subsequent wrecks.
Emergency crews remained on the scene hours after the explosion to clean up the mess.
Chris Leiato of Temple was right behind the truck when it caught fire. He sent NBC 6 pictures taken with his camera-phone. Leiato was coming down the ramp from Highway 190 heading north toward Temple on I-35 when he saw the smoke and flames. He pulled over just in time to catch some shots of the powerful explosion, before the first fire trucks had even arrived at the scene. Leiato was not injured by the blast, but he did spend a lot of time stuck in the resulting traffic jam.
Newscopter Seven was over the scene and Shannon Sohn joins us live with the story.
The incident happened about 3:30 p.m. just south of Route 35. The tanker was traveling north when an SUV apparently darted out in front of the tanker.
When the tanker swerved to avoid the vehicle and ended up on its side, bursting into flames. Smoke could be seen for miles.
The Ridgefield Fire Department tells us the tanker is believed to have been fully loaded, though its precise capacity, origin and destination is unknown. The fate is the driver is unknown.
That part of Route 7, near Route 35, is closed indefinitely and a state bridge inspector is en route to the scene to determine the integrity of the bridge.
The fire is contained and a large hazmat cleanup is underway.
Fatal
crash closes Route 7 (link not working)
Stamford Advocate, CT -
... temporary bridge similar to the one used after the Howard
Avenue overpass on Interstate 95 in Bridgeport was destroyed by a oil tanker
truck explosion in March ...
05:36 PM CDT on Tuesday, July 19, 2005
A Houston garbage truck exploded into flames in northwest Houston Tuesday
afternoon. The force of the blast blew off one of the truck's tires which flew
into a nearby home. It broke a window of the home at Marcella near Apollo, but no one inside
was hurt. A spokesperson with Solid Waste said they believe the explosion was
touched off by a chemical interaction. They think someone threw away some trash
containing a chemical that interacted with something else already inside the
truck. It is against the law to dispose of hazardous wastes in your regular
trash. The city has two household hazardous waste facilities. The northside
location is open to Houston residents every second Thursday of the month from 9
a.m. to 3 p.m. It's located at 5614 Neches, Building C. The southside location,
at 11500 South Post Oak, is open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
and the second Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.. The Environmental Service Centers provide a drive through, drop-off
location for household hazardous waste such as anti-freeze, batteries, fuel,
oil, paint, pesticides and other household cleaners. Residential electronic scrap items (monitors, CPUs, televisions, VCRs,
etc) are also accepted. There are some materials the ESC cannot accept. These include: ammunition,
explosives, medical wastes, radioactive wastes (smoke detectors), wastes from
businesses, and compressed gas cylinders. LUCIO BLANCO, MEXICO - A tank truck laden with liquefied propane was hit
by a freight train Thursday afternoon and exploded in the center of this
agricultural town, killing at least two and injuring 44 residents who sprinted
for safety as roaring flames shot down the main street. More than a dozen homes and businesses, along with 17 cars, were
destroyed, police said. "It looks like a war zone, doesn't it?" said Joseph Horn, deputy
chief of the Brownsville Fire Department, as he directed a pair of firetrucks
sent to help control the fire. As darkness fell, the tops of the power poles in the town were still
burning, along with trees and sections of several roofs, as firefighters were
using the available water to dilute the spilled propane. Rolando Garcia Conte, director of civil protection in nearby Matamoros,
said the two people confirmed dead were the engineer of the train and the truck
driver. "There were a lot of people burned here, some seriously, some with
minor burns," he said. "I was told there were three more (victims) they are going to bring
out," Horn said. The majority of the injured were taken to Mexican hospitals while two
American citizens were taken to the Harlingen Medical Center. Witnesses and local police said the driver of a tandem tanker truck
attempted to beat a freight train at a crossing next to a gas station shortly
after 3 p.m. "This happened, unfortunately, because the truck was trying to beat
the train across the crossing," said Matamoros Police Commander Crecensio
Esquivel. City officials identified the tanker as belonging to a Monterrey firm,
Techno Gas. "Really, the explosion was very strong," said Ezequiel Fuentes,
a 40-year-old resident whose masonry home two blocks from the crossing was
destroyed by flames. "I was inside when I heard the sound of the train hitting the truck,
and I went out and was walking to the crossing when there was an explosion, and
then came huge flames," Fuentes said. "We turned around and ran away. "I thank God that nothing happened to us," he said, referring to
his wife, 6-month-old son and mother, who were in the home when the tanker
exploded. At the crossing, one of the charred propane tanks could be seen lying
alongside a freight car, while the truck cab was on the other side of the
tracks. The second propane tank was thrown hundreds of yards into the air, hit a
house and landed on top of a car, witnesses said. The explosion and resulting fires destroyed a two-story seed store next to
the crossing, along with four other businesses down the same side of the street.
Across the street, all the homes and businesses for two blocks were destroyed. "I came here to get my (car) windows tinted at this shop, and I was
standing here when the guy said, 'We've had it,"' said Armando Perez, 25,
who lives in nearby Valle Hermoso. Perez, whose arm was bandaged from burns he suffered, said he was standing
outside the small automotive shop next to the railroad tracks when he saw the
tanker truck driving over the rail crossing. He turned and saw the freight train
hit the truck between the tanks, and was knocked to the ground by the explosion. "When it happened, I was thrown down, and then I ran over there (down
a side street) to get away," said Perez. His charred 1987 Ford pickup, which contained all his documents and his
wallet, lay a few feet from the propane tank. Firetrucks and emergency vehicles from Brownsville, Harlingen, San Benito,
Los Fresnos and eight water tankers from Cameron County helped Mexican units
battle the blaze. james.pinkerton@chron.com LUCIO BLANCO, Mexico (AP) -- A small settlement
near a bridge to the United States was reduced to little more than rubble when a
tanker truck collided with a train, killing two people and injuring at least 44. Witnesses said they heard two large explosions Thursday followed by a series
of smaller ones, with gusts of fire ripping through cement-wall homes and
blasting off corrugated metal roofing. "It was like an earthquake," said Jorge Batres, describing how
flames spread to nearby cars, shops and houses. The truck owned by Techno Gas of Monterrey, Mexico, was hauling two tank
loads of liquid petroleum gas. Witnesses say the truck failed to stop when the
train sounded. Orlando Garcia, director of emergency services for Matamoros, Mexico, said
the driver of the truck and the train's engineer died. He said the most severely
injured were taken to hospitals in Monterrey. Others were taken to hospitals in
Matamoros and across the border to Harlingen, Texas. It took several hours to
find all the injured. Teresa Guerrero said her sister, Nancy, was working at a nearby gas station
when a fireball erupted. Her sister tried to flee, but she was burned on her
arms, feet, back and hair. With no water lines, Texas fire crews had to ferry water trucks back and
forth to a hydrant near the international bridge at Los Indios, filling portable
tanks to keep the hose filled. Mexican crews worked the southern side of the wreck. "It's a mutual aid agreement -- we help each other out," said
Joseph Horn of the Brownsville Fire Department. At least a dozen structures were gutted by the blasts, with blackened stoves
and wash tubs left standing amid crumbling walls. Copyright 2005
SPRINGFIELD - Interstate 91 was shut down for about 20 minutes yesterday
afternoon after construction workers discovered a stick of dynamite protruding
from a granite slab left under the highway at West Columbus Avenue near State
Street. Traffic along West Columbus Avenue and northbound and southbound lanes
of I-91 came to a halt while members of the city Arson and Bomb Squad removed
the slab containing the explosive. Squad members Lt. John Friberg and Brian Strout donned protective suits
and secured the slab onto the arm of a crane, which gently lifted it into the
bed of a Water Department dump truck. The bed was filled with sand. The dump truck was driven to Bondi's Island in West Springfield so the
dynamite could be detonated, said Fire Department spokesman Neil Hawley. The highway and West Columbus Avenue were reopened at 4 p.m. The dynamite apparently was brought to Springfield inside the slab from
a quarry in Georgia, Hawley said. It could not be determined if a blasting cap, which could trigger an
explosion, was attached, he said. All the bomb squad could see was a piece of
dynamite and some wires sticking out of the slab. It was also not clear how long the slab had been piled under the
highway. Police were called to the scene shortly after 2 p.m. The bomb squad
arrived about 20 minutes later. The granite slab with the dynamite was lying in a pile with other slabs
just under the highway overpass at West Columbus Avenue and State Street, near
the entrance to Riverfront Park. It was discovered by city Water Department workers who parked their
truck next to the pile. Water Department employee Joseph Connor said he noticed the wires
sticking out from a hole in the slab and went to take a closer look. Connor, who said he used to drill holes for dynamite demolition at a
previous job, said he recognized it as a single stick with a blasting cap
attached. "It must have come from the quarry like that," he said.
"If they cut it with a saw or hit the cap, it could explode." Connor said he tried to warn a fork truck driver who was about to start
moving slabs from the pile, but the driver did not believe him. After that he ran to find a supervisor, who took him seriously, he said. "If he hit it (with the fork truck) and it exploded, we'd be
dead," he said.
Tenneesee Highway Patrol Trooper Chris Copeland, left,
talks with Christiana volunteer firefighter Chris Moorehead,
right, and other volunteer firefighters at the scene of a
fatal accident in which a tractor-trailer crashed into gas
pumps at the C&E Market in Rutherford County's Christiana
community.
CHRISTIANA COMMUNITY — June Jones was
making biscuits and bacon for a regular customer at C&E Market
yesterday morning when she heard the "kaboom." "I heard the explosion and I seen the truck fly
by," Jones said. The explosion was the impact of a tractor-trailer
crashing through the store's gas pumps, killing a customer and injuring
three others, including the driver of the truck. The accident happened about 6:30 a.m., just an hour
after the store had opened. The tractor-trailer plowed into the store on
a straight, mostly residential stretch of Shelbyville Pike. It dragged
with it a pickup truck and scattered cars in the lot as it overturned. Jones saw her own car totaled, but that was the
least of her concerns. The truck leveled the gas island and sent shards
flying through the parking lot before resting across the road and
catching fire. "Just like that," Jones said, snapping her
fingers. "There was no time. The truck blew up, our diesel tank was
dragged across the road … and I knew my friend was out there." The friend, Sammy L. Pruitt, 63, of Bell Buckle was
one of a handful of customers whose order Jones knows by heart. She was
pouring coffee and readying his breakfast when he pulled into the lot. A
married father of two children and two stepchildren, Pruitt was pumping
gas and was killed when the tractor-trailer hit. Pruitt worked at Contractors Heating and Cooling
Inc. in Nashville. He was a quiet man who mostly kept to himself, but he
loved to play golf, his stepdaughter Anita Hargrove said. "He had some hole-in-ones around here that he
was pretty proud of. He really loved to golf," Hargrove said.
"And he loved C&E Market. He was there just about every
day." The store, about a mile from Christiana's elementary
and middle schools, serves breakfast in the morning and pizza in the
afternoon. The store suffered a broken window but, aside from the gas
pumps, remained mostly untouched. Thankfully, early morning is not the
store's busiest time, owner Bansi Patel said. She and her husband, Neal,
bought the store 2½ months ago after graduating from the University of
Tennessee at Chattanooga. They are expecting a child. Police said a tractor-trailer going north on U.S.
231 got on top of the tailgate of a pickup truck also traveling north,
State Police Lt. Robert Brown said. The two vehicles swerved off the
road onto a grassy area, and the truck continued to skid through
C&E's gas pumps. The driver, Robert Peyton, 37, of Kentucky, told
paramedics at the scene that he had fallen asleep, Brown said. At least five cars were struck in the parking lot as
the truck skidded through, dragging a diesel tank across the lot before
stopping in the middle of Ellis Drive and catching fire. The
tractor-trailer, leased by Diamond Logistics, was transporting
air-conditioning units for Honda cars. Christiana Fire Chief Tony Snook said the flames
were put out in about 20 minutes, but firefighters stayed on the scene
through the morning to keep an eye on the scene. Peyton was transported by LifeFlight helicopter to
Vanderbilt University Medical Center's burn unit, where he was listed in
critical but stable condition last night. Stacy Luna, 33, of Bell
Buckle, who was driving the pickup truck, was admitted to Middle
Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro.He was listed in good
condition. David Johnson, 53, of Bell Buckle, who was in a parked car,
was treated at MTMC's emergency department and released. 8-11-05 The California Highway Patrol says excessive
speed caused a tanker truck crash that resulted
in a brush fire near Topaz Lake Wednesday
afternoon. The accident happened around 1:00 PM on
eastbound California SR-89 from Monitor Pass,
just west of US 395 near the state line. Officials say the driver, Thanh Doung, was
carrying a combination of gasoline and diesel
fuel when he crashed. They say the crash caused
the tanks to rupture, spilling 8,800 gallons of
fuel. The fuel on the ground immediately ignited
and also ran into a small creek. That fire also started the brush fire that
consumed around 35 acres. Officials say they now
have a handle on the fire. The California Division of Fish and Game and
the Environmental Protection Agency were on the
scene to monitor clean-up efforts. Doung was flown to Washoe Medical Center with
burns over 80 percent of his body. He was
eventually transferred to the UC Davis Medical
Center burn unit. Highway 89 is still closed and the California
Highway Patrol says they expect the road to be
closed for most of the day.
August 11, 2005
Plant explosion rocks Romulus
Chemical fire at waste recovery firm forces evacuations as blaze leaps from tank
to tank.
ROMULUS -- Hundreds of residents from Romulus and Wayne hoped to
return home today after a massive overnight fire at a nearby chemical plant. The residents spent the night at two high schools and a church hall as
authorities waited for the blaze at E.Q. Resource Recovery Inc. to burn itself
out. Michael Woods, 55, of Wayne spent the night with about 30 other evacuees in
the lunchroom of Romulus High School, worrying about his wife, who refused to
leave their home when officials told them to evacuate. "I'm going home in a couple hours to check on my wife and my
house," Woods said. The cause of the blaze wasn't immediately known. Joe Bova, 53, also spent the night at Romulus High School, but by early
morning he was getting nervous because he had left his medication at his home in
Wayne. "I'm a diabetic, and I need my insulin," he said. "I hope the
cops will let us back (into our homes.)" Workers in the plant, which treats hazardous and industrial waste, fled from
it just before it burst into flames about 9:15 p.m., said Charles Kirby,
director of Romulus Public Safety. By 3 a.m., 16 people had been treated for minor respiratory problems at
Oakwood Annapolis Hospital in Wayne, said hospital spokeswoman Amy Middleton. The hospital also provided a decontamination unit for anyone who needed to
clean the smoke off of them. The residents, who had difficulty breathing, were expected to be treated and
released. "I think I'm OK," said one patient, Judy Brennan, 58, of Wayne.
"I don't think I was exposed too much; I was only outside for a short
while." The plant, with its tall metal tanks ablaze, resembled a birthday cake whose
candles flared violently. A series of explosions rocked nearby homes and
businesses as the fire spread from one tank to another. As the flames reached high into the nighttime sky, public safety officials
were more concerned about the heavy billowing smoke that changed direction
several times in the tossing winds. Worried that the black smoke might be toxic, authorities evacuated people
from homes and businesses within a half mile of the plant. Among the firms were
several auto plants, including GM Powertrain and Ford's Wayne Stamping and
Assembly. Among the residents evacuated was Angela Bradley, 24, of Wayne. "The explosion shook the whole house," she said. "I thought
the air conditioner blew up." Bradley and her 8-year-old son, Tyler, went to Wayne Memorial High School,
but had to leave someone behind. "I'm really worried about my dog," she said. "Who knows what
the chemicals will do to him." More than 100 firefighters gathered to fight the blaze but were kept away by
the wind-tossed smoke. So they decided to allow the fire to burn itself out. "We've got a fire that's contained, and the fire chief thinks the best
thing to do is let it burn," he said, adding he believed that was the
safest thing to do. By 2 a.m., the tanks, which contained acetone among other things, had melted
half way down, Kirby said. He thought the fire should run its course by 9 or 10 a.m. "This is a serious danger to your health," Kirby said. The plant hasn't had any recent problems, said Romulus Mayor Alan Lambert. Nine workers were at the plant at the time, employees said. Worker Carl Arasi Jr. told his father that the first explosion at the plant
was the loudest noise he had ever heard, the elder Arasi said. "He said, 'We were told over the loudspeaker, "Get out. It's going
to blow.".'." Carl Sr. was driving to the plant to pick up his son because the younger
Arasi was too shaken to get home by himself. Wayne resident Robert Eller, 50, who lives behind the plant, said he was
watching television when he heard the explosion. "I opened my door, and I could see nothing but red," he said.
"I thought it was a nuclear attack." The Salvation Army and the American Red Cross helped assist residents who
went to the shelters. A Sally food truck brought hot dogs, s'mores, coffee and
lemonade. Olivia Ross, 45, a Romulus resident who lives near the plant, also was
evacuated from her home. "They came with bullhorns, told us we had to go," said Ross, who
works on the midnight shift for GM Powertrain. After the explosion, plant workers called relatives from their cell phones. Amy Douglas, 29, of Detroit and others waited for the workers in a party
store parking lot at Ecorse and Wayne roads. Her husband, Leaveil, a plant lab technician, told her father he was working
in the lab just before the explosion. "My father could tell in his voice that he was scared," she said.
"He was shaken up. All he said was that the plant blew up." The Associated Press and Detroit News Staff Writer Douglass Dowty
contributed to this report. You can reach Francis X.Donnelly at (313) 222-2300
or
Aug. 12, 2005, 1:12AM
Train hits gas tanker, igniting deadly fireball
Explosion just south of Mexican border kills two, injures scores and
destroys houses
By JAMES PINKERTON
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Rio Grande Valley Bureau
Mexican border town hit by truck crash
Texas emergency services join rescue efforts
Dynamite found in curbing at construction site
Friday, August 12, 2005
THE DAILY NEWS JOURNAL
Thursday, 08/11/05
Early-morning blast shakes Rutherford
County market
TOPAZ LAKE, CA
Foreman yells before explosion: 'Get out!'
BY PATRICIA MONTEMURRI, JOEL THURTELL and NAOMI R. PATTON
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
An alarm sounded. Then a foreman shouted over the company's two-way radio: "Get out, get out, get out!"
Carl Arasi III, a lab technician on the night shift at EQ Resource Recovery Inc. in Romulus, hesitated a moment as he began to peel off his work gloves. But a coworker grabbed his arm. There was no time to waste.
As they and six other workers rushed from the complex of vats, cylinders and trucks loaded with chemical solvents, they heard the first of several explosions that rocked the plant around 9 p.m. Tuesday, causing an evacuation and environmental health scare that lingered through Wednesday.
In recalling the harrowing escape to his father, Arasi said he felt a burning sensation on his neck as the plant exploded and went up in a fireball that roiled the night sky.
"They all dove under a trailer to keep the debris from falling on them," his father, Carl Arasi Jr., told the Free Press on Wednesday.
As details emerged, local and federal officials started an investigation that turned up few answers to the many questions surrounding the explosion, its cause and the aftermath for hundreds of worried residents who were evacuated and told to stay away from their Wayne and Romulus homes for a second night Wednesday. The evacuation could last for another 48 hours, officials said.
Romulus Public Safety Director Charles Kirby said it was too early to say what triggered the explosion, and a company spokesman, Dan Gilbert, said any investigation would have to wait until the flames were completely out.
The eight employees inside the plant all escaped, Gilbert said.
Arasi Jr. said his shaken son called home at 9:30 p.m. to ask his parents to pick him up. The 60-year-old Belleville resident and his wife, Linda, drove as close as police would allow them, to a liquor store at Ecorse and Wayne roads. Nearly two hours later, their son, 32, walked a mile to meet his family there. His parents took him to Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn when he complained of a burning sensation in his chest.
"I sat there and waited, and in the course of that wait, there were three or four more explosions," said Arasi Jr., an unemployed blackjack dealer. He said law enforcement agents kept employees "in harm's way" when they should have been taken to hospitals and checked for contamination.
"They weren't too worried about the employees. They wouldn't allow them to leave," Arasi Jr. said.
City of Wayne Deputy Fire Chief Mel Moore said Wednesday, "I'm not aware of that."
Protocol requires emergency personnel to ask if any one is injured and to get them help if needed. "To our knowledge, there were no injuries," he said.
Sandy Dotson, 45, who lives on Williams Street, came to the evacuation center at Wayne Memorial High School on Wednesday with her husband, Mitch, and material they collected from the ground around their house and driveway.
The black, gray and brown granules smelled faintly tar-like and resembled fertilizer pellets. She said a neighbor who lives behind them had larger chunks of it in his backyard.
"I want to know what it is. If they are not going to tell us, I'll have it tested myself," Sandy Dotson said.
By late Wednesday afternoon, 38 people had sought emergency medical attention at Oakwood Annapolis Hospital in Wayne. One person was seen at Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn, said Tom Worobec, the hospital's director of communications. All were treated and released.
Most people complained of chest tightness, Worobec said. Eleven people who complained about itchy skin were sent to the Annapolis hospital's decontamination tent, which was set up Tuesday night and taken down Wednesday. In the tent, they were told to undress and wash with a mild soap. After they dried off, they were given hospital scrubs to put on and later were seen by a doctor, Worobec said.
Some firefighters received treatment for heat exhaustion, Worobec said. There were no reports of burns.
Firefighters from Wayne and Romulus spent Wednesday dousing the fire with foam from a Detroit Metro Airport emergency truck, but it continued to burn into the evening. Firefighters were hampered by winds that blew the smoke into their faces at the building's entrance, Kirby said. A high railroad grade also created a barrier, he said.
Once the fire is out, investigators from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will look over the debris in their search for a cause, Gilbert said. Afterward, company investigators will take over. Investigators from the EPA and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on the scene but were unable to begin their investigation.
Many residents who left pets behind were worried about their safety.
Pat and Kara McIntyre took their boxer-great Dane Sadie and pug Missy with them to the high school evacuation center. But the Dotsons, their next-door neighbors, left their 13-year-old dog at home, reasoning that a closed environment would be safer. Wayne City Manager John Zech allowed residents to return to their homes to check on pets.
But worries about the effects on their own health were never far from residents' minds.
Mitch Dotson complained of a sunburn-like rash on the back of his neck. He said gravelly residue from the explosion settled on homes, vehicles and people who were outside when the fire started.
"I just want to know what that was that was falling on us," he said. "All night we've been itching."
Contact JOEL THURTELL at 248-351-3296. Staff writers Melanie D. Scott and Cecil Angel contributed to this report.
August 11, 2005
BY HUGH McDIARMID JR.
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
The inferno that tore apart a Romulus chemical plant kept burning throughout Wednesday night, prolonging a public health scare and evacuation order that forced thousands to seek shelter at motels, a school, and with friends and relatives.
Protect yourself |
|
Plant's chemicals |
EQ
Resource Recovery Inc., is the nation's third-largest facility that
blends toxic wastes for use as fuels in cement kilns and other
incinerators licensed to burn hazardous materials, according to federal
documents. Here are a few of the chemicals known to be stored at the
plant:
Aircraft deicing fluid.
|
If you have questions |
The EPA has set up a Web site for information about the accident and the subsequent testing and investigation at www.epaosc.net/site. Click on Web sites, then Region 5, then EQ Resource Recovery. |
Fire officials were not sure when the fire would be extinguished and the evacuation orders for Romulus and Wayne would be lifted. Officials said areas outside the evacuation zone were not at risk from fallout from the plant fire.
City of Wayne Deputy Fire Chief Mel Moore said Wednesday evening, "We could have it out at the end of the night or it could take two, three more days."
Romulus Fire Chief David Allison said today would be the earliest the fire would be extinguished. The problem stems from a hot solvent-type chemical leaking from the tanks, Moore said.When the water is put on the chemical the fire flares up so it's better to let it drain into a contained area, and once it cools, the company will remove it, Moore said.
Once the fire is out, people likely will be allowed to return home, both fire chiefs said.
More than 24 hours after the industrial meltdown, local and federal officials still could not provide answers to anxious residents about potential health risks, or offer explanations as to the cause.
The stubborn fire prevented investigators from starting a full probe. In the meantime, they began testing the fallout. They urged residents to avoid contact with the grit and soot, but to be cautious if they did begin cleaning homes and cars. There is no certainty that today will bring concrete answers to questions about the potential for toxic hazards in neighborhoods near the plant.
That's not much help for residents like Angie Loop, 38, who planned to hose the dark sand-like residue off her driveway in Wayne. Returning to check on her cats and a hamster Wednesday afternoon, she surveyed the scene and wondered how careful she should be.
It "seemed like hail" when the charcoal-colored bits rained down in the dark Wednesday, said Loop. "The kids were freaking."
She'd already made sure not to track any fallout inside, and said she was awaiting word from authorities on whether the grit was toxic.
Results from complex tests on the materials that spewed from the fire at EQ Resource Recovery Inc. likely won't be available until late today or Friday, said federal emergency response officials. Until then, no one knows whether the area is embedded with dangerous levels of toxics like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a group of chemicals that are probable carcinogens and also may damage skin, body fluids and inhibit ability to fight disease after even short-term exposure.
"We don't know what metals, PAHs, solvents or other compounds might be there," said EPA on-scene coordinator Jeff Kimble.
Dr. Michael Harbut, a Royal Oak-based environmental and occupational medicine expert, said people who inhaled the vapors should be vigilant about their health.
He said it's possible microscopic metal particles suspended in the solvents that burned could be released in the air, lodging in lungs of people nearby and settling on lawns and cars.
"The general rule is, if you can smell it, don't breathe it. There can be a delayed response of 24, 36, even 48 hours in which you might experience coughing, wheezing or shortness of breath." If that happens, get to a doctor, Harbut said.
In addition to the grit, federal officials were scanning the air around the plant -- using pole-mounted monitoring boxes, a specially-equipped twin-engine plane crammed with scientific instruments for infrared and thermal imaging, and a mobile lab that was expected to arrive just after midnight.
Initial test results showed that levels of contaminants in the air, even during the height of the blaze's fury, were not an imminent threat to those who breathed it.
The intense heat likely destroyed many potentially dangerous chemicals before they could waft through the neighborhood, said Charles Kirby, chief of the Romulus Department of Public Safety. "That may be the reason the EPA hasn't given us any negative signs," he said Wednesday afternoon.
The uncontrolled mixture of chemicals, heated at uneven temperatures throughout the inferno, can create entirely new compounds, making it even harder to predict what sort of residue is left behind, say scientists.
The toxic soup of chemicals, firefighting foam and water left on the site will be extracted by HAZMAT crews in coming days -- but EQ spokesman Dan Gilbert said he believes the mess is well contained.
Emergency responders were quick to block off nearby sewer lines where toxic liquids might have flowed.
Federal and state records showed the company paid a $32,000 fine to the EPA for an alleged 1999 violation involving improper control of storage tank emissions. The company also received nine informal notices of violation from state regulators since 2003 -- all minor problems the company quickly corrected, said Bob McCann, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
The problems aren't uncommon for an operation of EQ's magnitude, said regulators.
Maura Campbell, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth, which oversees workplace safety, said there is no history of workplace safety violations at the Romulus plant, which employed about 50 workers on three shifts.
Attorneys and politicians wasted no time reacting to the disaster. Even as the fire burned, Macuga & Liddle P.C. of Detroit announced a class action, and U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, promised a full investigation, declaring "the federal government has dropped the ball" on safety regulation.
Meanwhile, several families were taking up the EQ company's offer to put them up free in local hotels.
Contact HUGH McDIARMID JR. at 248-351-3295 or mcdiarmid@freepress.com. Staff writers Naomi R. Patton, Cecil Angel and Niraj Warikoo contributed to this report.
Mason County, Michigan
US
31 Open After Tanker Fire
8-12-05
US 31 is open again Friday after a gasoline tanker truck explosion is blamed on a locked brake that caused a tire to burst into flames and damaged the highway. The driver of a Great Lakes Petroleum gasoline tanker truck pulled over on US 31 when he realized the tire was burning. He exhausted his fire extinquisher and it appeared to be out. When it burst into flames again he ran to a nearby house and called 9-1-1. The tanker then became fully involved. The siding melted on a home nearly a hundred yards away. The couple who lie here were awakened by the explosions. The grant twp fire chief says 8 fire department worked to keep the blaze under. Several times firefighters had to move out of the way as the burning cinders and debris from the fire roared past them.
3
charged in Newton industrial explosion allowed into PTI program Link
not working)
Newsday, NY -
... seriously damaged another. Investigators eventually
determined the explosion was caused by an illegal truck-to-truck propane
transfer. ...
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NORTHEAST TARRANT BRIEFSStar-TelegramRepairs finished after explosion at Texas 183 IRVING -- Emergency repairs on Texas 183 at MacArthur Boulevard are complete, a little more than six weeks after a tanker truck explosion caused extensive damage, Texas Transportation Department officials said. All the freeway's main lanes are open, and access to northbound MacArthur Boulevard has been restored. The $636,000 emergency roadwork contract was awarded to Gibson and Associates. The crash occurred May 28 when a pickup collided with a gasoline tanker on the eastbound side of Texas 183, also known as Airport Freeway. The truck, which was carrying about 3,000 gallons of gas, was forced off the freeway and exploded on the intersection below. The truck driver was killed, and the pickup driver was arrested on suspicion of intoxication manslaughter. The explosion incinerated the truck and destroyed several concrete bridge columns and horizontal beams. -- Gordon Dickson American's flights from D/FW delayed American Airlines flights out of Dallas/Fort Worth Airport were delayed for more than an hour Wednesday by weather, officials said. Heavy thunderstorms passing through the Northeast caused about 21 flights to be canceled and others to be rerouted, American Airlines spokesman Billy Sanez said. About eight other flights were canceled because of Tropical Storm Emily, Sanez said. The storm was about 135 miles east-southeast of Grenada, an island nation in the southeastern Caribbean Sea, Wednesday evening. Earlier this week, many flights were delayed because of airport closures due to Hurricane Dennis, officials said. -- Melissa Sanchez
Editorials/Op-Ed
Jihadists v. fools on the benchAugust 1, 2005 One would hardly know it from the tendentious political
speech delivered by federal District Judge John Coughenour
Wednesday in sentencing al Qaeda terrorist Ahmed Ressam to 22
years in prison for plotting to bomb Los Angeles International
Airport, but the Ressam case shows what is wrong with a strategy
of using the courts as our primary means of fighting terror --
as the Clinton administration did for eight years. The case also
serves as an illustration of the potentially catastrophic
consequences to Americans that can result from lax
border-enforcement, asylum and welfare policies in countries
like France and Canada. http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20050731-093550-3547r.htm
Explosion and fire rock Texas industrial plant, injuring
four
Friday, July 29, 2005
Sylvester the Cat and Speedy Gonzales - May 5, 2003
TERRORISM - WORLD TRADE CENTER - 9-11-2001 - MILITARY PAGE 2
US and Islamic Holidays 2002 - 2004 - Dream of Terrorism
SUSPICIONS OF THE SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 EVENTS AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER
BOMBING OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER - 9-11-2001 - DAY 4
TERRORISM - WORLD TRADE CENTER - 9-11-2001 - PAGE 10
THIS MUST BE WHAT HELL IS LIKE - SAVED BY OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
A WARNING OF TERRORISM - UPS TRUCKS
BOMBING OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER - 9-11-2001 - PAGE 8
BOMBING OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER - 9-11-2001 - NUMBER SYMBOLISM
BOMBING OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER 9-11-2001 - PAGE 6
Homeland Security ???? You Are a Suspect You Are a Suspect 11/14 ...
TERRORISTS COMING FROM THE NORTH IN CROP DUSTING PLANES?
BOMBING OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER 9-11-2001
THE NEW WORLD ORDER - A GOOD THING?
THE ELECTION - 2000 - DREAMS AND VISIONS
KENT STATE - PROTEST - A DREAM
TERRORISM - WORLD TRADE CENTER - 9-11-2001 - PAGE 9
THE SNIPER CASE - THE FRENCH CONNECTION
THE TRAIN IS COMING - THE DREAM AND PROPHECY
NEW PROPHECIES FROM JUST REGULAR PEOPLE
TERRORISM - WORLD TRADE CENTER - DAY 2 - 9-12-2001
SOME SHIFTING HAS ALREADY OCCURRED
TERRORISM - WORLD TRADE CENTER - 9-11-2001 - PAGE 11
TERRORISM - WORLD TRADE CENTER - 9-11-2001 - PAGE 3
Revelation 19 - War of Armegeddon
TERRORISM - WORLD TRADE CENTER - 9-11-2001 - MILITARY PAGE
PROPHECIES ABOUT THE NEW MILLENIUM
KIARA WINDRIDER - YEAR OF TRUTH - A GLOBAL CALL
WEATHER WARS - RADIO INTERVIEW WITH THE EXPERTS
Prophecies on the end of the millennium - on 1999-2000
BLACK AND WHITE - THE PROBLEMS IN GUATEMALA
BOMBING OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER - 9-11-2001 - PAGE 7
PROPHECIES BY REGULAR PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME
GREATDREAMS - EARTHCHANGES - NEWS OF TERRORISM
PEAS, BEANS, AND BARLEY ... OHHHH!
MY FATHER COMES TO VISIT - A DREAM AND PROPHECY- 5-30-99
DREAMS AND MYTHOLOGY OF CATS AND OTHER FELINES
WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF THE ELECTRICITY WENT OFF?
TERRORISM AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER, PENTAGON, AND PENNSYLVANIA 9 ...
DREAM GATES - THE IMPORTANCE OF DREAMS
NATIONAL SECURITY - HOLIDAY TERRORISM
The Symbolism and Spiritual Significance of the Number Three
Star Wars: The Next Generation
THE PYRAMID AT GIZA AND THE MAGNETIC NULL ZONE
DIRE MESSAGES OF JESUS AND MOTHER MARY - PAGE 10
SMALL POX - THE DREAM AND THE REALITY
ANOTHER PEARL HARBOR IN OUR FUTURE?
SUSPICIONS OF THE SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 EVENTS AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER
ON THE BEACH - IT'S JUST A MOVIE - RIGHT?
SOLAR ECLIPSE 1999 - FINAL QUEST FOR THE HOLY GRAIL
DREAM - THE KEEPER OF THE TRUMPETS
BOMBING OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER - 9-11-2001 - DAY 5
DIRE JESUS MESSAGES - PART 7 - FEBRUARY, 2002
1260 - CHANDRA LEVY ADDRESS - A CONNECTION TO REVELATION?
DIRE MESSAGES FROM JESUS AND HIS MOTHER MARY - PAGE 4
WEAPONS OF WAR - REVELATIONS 9:13-21
ATF GETS THEIR MAN!!!! 8-31-2001
The Changing of the Guard: Part III: Illuminati Life and Propaganda
GREAT DREAMS - EARTHCHANGES - CONSPIRACIES
DREAMS OF BASEBALL GAMES WITH INTERPRETATION
The Mental Destruction of Paul Bennewitz
ARE YOU GIVING UP YOUR FREEDOMS FOR SECURITY??? NUCLEAR ARMS TALKS AND A PROPHECYRED LINE BLUE LINE CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN THE U.S. DON'T BE IN DENIAL - THEY EXIST DR. JOHN COLEMAN A PROPHET IN OUR OWN TIME THE COMMITTEE OF 300 FIND OUT HOW OTHER COUNTRIES ARE TAKING OVER THE U.S. WITHOUT FIRING A SHOT NOAM CHOMSKY - AMERICAN DISSIDENT SURVIVAL |
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