An Anon. post stated my size of the tank was too large. I consulted two other people that would know and they agree, depending on the what the firemen ment by calling the tanks 1 ton, they could be smaller.
The tank could be slightly larger then two feet by some 8-11 feet in lenght. The overall size could be larger but that would depend on wall thickness and so forth of the tanks. OmniSource would not allow any media to view the tanks the actual tanks.
The tank will hold nearly 150 gallons of liquid Chlorine. On Friday afternoon two of these size tanks where found leaking. The tanks contained liquid chlorine. Chlorine, when allowed to escape into the atmosphere turns to a deadly gas.
Chlorine is considered a "heavy gas" which means it settles to the ground when it mixes with the normal atmosphere. At very low concentration levels, but still potentially causing lifetime health issues, will result in burning sensations to the eyes, nose & throat, usually accompanied by dizziness, nausea and vomiting. Moderate levels will cause permanent lung damage. High levels will result in instant death!
Sadly, even the people who where quickly transported to Fort Wayne hospitals have no way of knowing if in the coming months or years they may face new health issues. The length of their lives may have been now compromised.
The only thing good about this potential deadly matter is how well our fire, police, and medical units responded. Had they not taken the leadership, along with the knowledge to deal with this, we would today be talking about the number of people who died. A tip of the hat goes to the surrounding volunteer fire departments and medical crews that reported to their stations and stood by to make sure the entire Fort Wayne community had protection.
These tanks should have been marked with large letters that spell the word "CHLORINE", in several locations. If OmniSource accepted unmarked tanks, it is their responsibility to investigate the prior contents of the tanks before accepting them. Under EPA rules, OmniSource had to safely process any contents of tanks they accept into their operation. The rules are clear.
Chlorine gas is so deadly it is outlawed for even use in wars. If any person, during a war, uses chlorine gas is subjected to a war crime trail. If found guilty, the death penalty can be ordered.
The abovementioned is to provide the reader an understanding of the dangers of chlorine gas. OmniSource played with the health and very lives of their employees, average people just driving by their facility, residents setting in their yards for miles down wind, police officers, and firemen.
If one is to believe that Abby Slutsky, writer for The Journal Gazette, wrote her article with even half accuracy then OmniSource is not the good neighbor they keep self promoting. In Slutsky's story she wrote, "Neither cylinder belong to OmniSource, Jacoby said ( District Fire Chief Michael Jacoby), and it was unknown how the cylinders got onto the property."
District Chief Jacoby had to have talked to representatives of OmniSource to form that statement. OmniSource was already attempting to "circle the wagons", as they knew they will be answering to IDEM and the EPA. This will not be a simple case of denial and it will go away. If may disappear from the pages of the newspapers and television screens, but it will not go away.
These two tanks weigh over 550 pounds each, are two plus feet in diameter, and about 8-11 feet long. The tanks did not get dropped off in their plant by some drive by dumper, in a pickup truck. This facility has highly limited access and is locked down, when not in operation.
No human tossed the tanks over the fence onto two different locations.
Nor, did the tanks just drop out of the thin air onto their scarp piles.
For the two tanks to have gotten onto scrap piles, it would have taken machinery to take them off some trailer and lift them. The only machinery located within the confines of the OmniSource property is owned by OmniSource. Trying to deny knowing about the tanks is laughable, if the risk of killing people was not so high.
Abby Slutsky, of The News Sentinel included a very interesting tidbit that most people would not see but has common tie to same OmniSource ownership. It concerns Superior Aluminum Alloys!
Slutsky wrote, " The last chlorine release in Allen County occurred in January 2006 when an unknown amount leaked at Superior Aluminum Alloys east of New Haven, according to the National Response Center, the nation's clearinghouse for chemical releases. Valve failure on a chlorine piping system was blamed. The business melts scrap aluminum into ingots or molten metal for resale."
The Rifkin family has been involved in the ownership of both companies. With a little research, a person can also learn that the EPA has sited Superior Aluminum Alloys on other emissions issues.
While not proven, nor denied by OmniSource was their responsibility for the loud explosions that rattled the neighborhoods on the Northeast side of Fort Wayne a while back. These noisy explosions took place through the night, when the only business operating in the area was OmniSource.
On duty police officers reported hearing the explosions, but the best they could ever find was the noise came from the approximate area of the OmniSource operation. If the explosions where coming from within the fenced area, it would be difficult for any police officer of seeing it.
There is no proven evidence, but considering no companies in the area, including OmniSource called for fire or medical assistance would indicate these where controlled explosions. OmniSource operates a car crusher and shredding machine at their site. If fuel tanks did not have their contents totally removed the result could well be an explosion when they went into the crusher or shredder.
This is the company that the Mayor of Fort Wayne wants to purchase a large tract of contaminated property from. The proposed property, now being called North River, is the former site of OmniSource's previous scrap metal and junkyard operation.
The City claims that a couple of fuel tanks have been removed and the site around the tanks has been tested for contamination. Which may be true. However, the City has no contractual agreement, as part of the sale agreement, that requires OmniSource to deliver the entire site as environmentally clean.
The City is playing games with the taxpayers in this deal and rewarding a valuable Democratic Party contributor. They get millions of tax dollars and walk away from a contaminated mess! There is not one business in this country that would purchase this property without it being cleaned up and meet the standards set forth by the EPA.
This could be the Mayor's crowning moment of wasting taxpayer money. He very well may have committed the city to spend tens of millions of dollars to clean the site up after he has long left office.
If the Rifkin family wanted to be a good community member then they would clean up their business operations so these leaks will never happen again. They would also clean up the North River property before selling it to the city.
Fort Wayne Blog "America's Most Dangerous Blogger" did additional research that deals with OmniSource. Check it out.
http://thefortwayneblog.blogspot.com/
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5 comments:
Great post
Let me add that I think it's pathetic that the local newspapers don't investigate this. How in the world can they report that the tanks didn't belong to OmniSource? Then what the hell were they doing on their property? How did they get there? This statement left every single reader with more questions than answers. This was pitiful reporting...
Jeff,
I am going to defend the media a little tiny bit here.
NO OFFICIAL FROM OMNISOURCE made a statement to the press. Of course, my feeling is they already knew that trying to sell the concept of two, 2000 plus pound tanks walking onto their property would be difficult.
OMNISOURCE would not allow any media members onto their property. I can understand that from two points. First, it is dangerous place by just the work they conduct there. Second, they may face some issues in court and put the CYA plan into operation.
Depending where the tanks where located on the property it could have been difficult, to impossible to see it from the roadway.
So I give the media a pass on that part of the story. However, I do not give them a pass for not researching the story behind the story or pressing for answers.
FYI
The photo is of a 5+ ton LP tank. A chlorine tank is much smaller. It is smaller in diameter than a 55 gal drum and only about 5 foot long.
The LP tank shown is by weight is one ton and holds about 800 gallons of LP.
You did bring up an interesting point though. Was it weight by capacity or weight by vessel.
So I called a couple people and they told be it could be either. One guessed that weight of tank. The other said he would guess it was the weight by content.
I was told content would produce a tank to hold 150 or more gallons of Chlorine. That would be three times the height of a 55 gallon drum. This would make the tank about 10-12 feet long.
Both asked me they where high pressure tanks and other tech stuff. I said only fire department people had seen the tank so it is unknown at this time.
So you may be right in that the tank I pictured was too large. However, the chances of moving the tanks by hand is remote, at best.
I searched the web for a tank like you described. If you can find one please send it on and I will change the photo. In the mean time I will remove the photo and note at the bottom of my story that the tank may be in the order of nearly over two feet in diameter and nine feet long.
And once you have smelled chlorine gas...you NEVER forget that odor...and you learn to GTH out of there ASAP.
Omni should have never had those receptacles on site without proper containment and notification of the specific agencies that can handle it FIRST.
Agreed, Jeff...bad reporting!
B.G.
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