Forget It Jake, It's Baltimore

 Bay Bulletin, Explosion Under Investigation At Troubled Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant

A large fire and explosion at a Baltimore wastewater treatment plant sparks new concerns from watchdog and environmental groups who had already blown the whistle on ongoing violations at the plant.

The flames broke out at the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant (BRWWTP) just before noon on Wednesday. Baltimore County firefighters arrived to find multiple fires inside a large industrial building used by a Baltimore City contractor called Synagro. Synagro converts waste into pellets for agricultural use as fertilizer, according to the county fire department.

I'm not so sure I want to eat food grown on Baltimore sewage. It's probably OK, but . . .

Seven people were working in the building when the fire occurred. Some left immediately on their own; firefighters helped the rest out and evacuated the building.

The building contained 12,000 gallons of thermal oil, which is used in Synagro’s manufacturing process. Most of it was contained in tanks. Firefighters allowed some of the oil to burn off before extinguishing the rest. Foam was used to put the last of the fire out.

Thermal oil is not considered hazardous and all the oil was contained to the building. The Maryland Department of the Environment found no environmental or public health impact from the fire and explosion.

The water treatment plant’s operations weren’t interrupted by the explosion. The plant is on a 466-acre site on the west shore of the Back River, which flows into the Bay. It is owned and operated by Baltimore City and serves an estimated 1.3 million residents in a 140-square-mile area of Baltimore City and County.

Built back in 1911, the BRWWTP has been plagued with pollution and maintenance violations. A year ago, state regulators took control of the plant from the city after a 48-hour ultimatum. Maryland Secretary of the Environment Ben Grumbles ordered plant operators stop discharging inadequately treated wastewater immediately and bring the facility into compliance, but they didn’t meet the deadline.

One week earlier, a Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) inspection found treatment equipment throughout the plant broken down or in poor condition, with only two out of 11 settling tanks functioning properly.

Waterway advocates Blue Water Baltimore and the Chesapeake Legal Alliance say the recent explosion points to another lack of proper oversight to keep the plant (and its 300 workers) safe.

In a statement, the two groups say the handling and processing of solid waste at Synagro has been noted as a potential safety hazard by MDE before. They point out that the state’s “comprehensive report in June 2022 noted that problems at the Back River WWTP caused a slowdown of solids handling due to Synagro’s concerns about its ability to process it safely within the guidelines of its fire suppression system.”

So I see MDDNR is doing about as good a job at running Back River sewage plant as Baltimore did. 

Forget It Jake, It's Baltimore

Da Sun, Explosion in Curtis Bay CSX coal silo shakes Baltimore, but so far no injuries reported, officials say

An explosion at a CSX facility in South Baltimore Thursday morning sent police and fire department officials scrambling to Curtis Bay and shook residents in neighborhoods across the city.

Firefighters were called to 1910 Benhill Ave. in Curtis Bay where an explosion occurred at the CSX Coal Plant Building, police spokeswoman Det. Chakia Fennoy said. Residents across the city reported on Twitter that the blast could be felt miles away.

No injuries were reported and no contractors were inside at the time of the explosion, fire department spokeswoman Blair Adams said.

Firefighters were on the scene monitoring for collapse, Adams said. The explosion resulted from the transport of coal, she said.

 

The coal was on a conveyor belt at the facility where coal dust buildup resulted in an explosion, Adams said. “There’s no impact or risk to the community,” Adams said.

Justin Helms, who lives near the Curtis Bay facility, was outside walking his dogs with his wife when the blast rocked his neighborhood.

Helms said he initially feared there had been a bombing. Puddles of water from the earlier rain shook from the force “like the T-Rex scene from Jurassic Park.”

”We just tried to brace ourselves looking around to see what happened while windows were busting out of houses,” he said. Helms said his house did not appear to be damaged, but several neighbors lost windows.

One of the more exciting times I had as a scientist was on a small boat collecting sediment in Baltimore Harbor when a paint plant nearby exploded, sending a cloud into the air, and loud instructions to evacuate the facility heard clearly over the water.

Coal dust explosions are a well known hazard of coal use on an industrial scale.

Whale Enters Chesapeake, Dies

Coast Guard issues warning about dead whale in Chesapeake

The Coast Guard has issued a warning to mariners after receiving several reports about a dead whale in Virginia waters of the Chesapeake Bay.

The first call came in late Saturday morning from a pilot escorting a ship through the Rappahannock Channel, a major shipping lane in the southern part of the bay.

The Coast Guard issued a 24-hour marine safety warning, but received no more calls. Then Wednesday afternoon, someone else called in a whale sighting.

“This time it was approximately two miles north of Windmill Point,” according to Coast Guard spokesman Nate Littlejohn. “You can never really say exactly where the whale is because that’s constantly changing with the tide and the weather.”

It’s likely the same dead whale, but because the corpse is moving and no one can stay with it, the Virginia Aquarium said it is unable to send out its Stranding Response Team. When the whale beaches is when the team would be able to identify the type of whale and possibly determine how it died.

That would be horrible to run into in a small boat running at full speed, especially if it was at that lovely "exploding whale" stage:

Why Tanks Don't Have Windows

"I'm Back"

in which our favorite redneck blows stuff up with a shotgun:



Wombat-socho enters the fray with "Rule 5 Sunday: Hot Babes In Space."

Ice Fishing på Svenska

Derailed Train Explodes in Baltimore Carrying Toxics

Derailed train carried toxic chemicals

The freight train that derailed Tuesday in Rosedale carried one chemical classified as hazardous by the U.S. Department of Transportation and another that also posed risks for firefighters and others at the scene even though not similarly classified.

There might have been residues aboard of a third chemical that also is highly corrosive and hazardous. State health officials, however, said the incident represented only a low risk to the public.

CSX spokesman Gary Sease said at least one of the dozen rail cars that appeared to be involved in the derailment contained sodium chlorate. The chemical is used in making a variety of products, including herbicides, explosives, dyes, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and papers, according to a Material Safety Data Sheet prepared by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services.

Sodium chlorate does not burn, but poisonous gases can be produced in a fire, the data sheet says. It is also considered a "strong oxidizer," which could enhance combustion of other materials. Contact can irritate eyes and skin, and it can cause headaches, fatigue, dizziness and death at very high concentrations if inhaled. Ingesting the chemical can damage the liver and kidneys.

But mostly, it's just a very potent oxidizer, which if in contact with some organic materials or some acids if heated.  This is probably what caused the explosion seen and heard on the video linked below

Four of the train's cars held terephthalic acid, the CSX spokesman said, and one of them caught fire, according to Baltimore County officials.

Terephthalic acid is used in making plastics and other products. The Department of Transportation does not list it as a hazardous material, Sease said. But it can irritate skin, eyes, nose, throat and lungs and cause coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath if inhaled, according to the data sheet. Though it does not readily ignite, terephthalic acid can burn, producing harmful gas.

So there's your organic acid, waiting to be mixed with the sodium chlorate and heated...

A fact sheet prepared by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration advises emergency responders dealing with spills to isolate them and protect people downwind from potential exposure.

County officials said the second of the two cars that caught fire contained fluorosilicic acid. Sease, the CSX spokesman, said the train included a "residue car" that might have included traces of the chemical.

Though it does not burn, fluorosilicic acid is highly corrosive and contact with it in liquid or vapor form can cause severe irritation and chemical burns of the eyes, skin, mucous membranes and respiratory tract, according to a safety sheet by KC Industries, a Florida-based chemical manufacturer.

Hexafluorosilicic acid releases hydrogen fluoride when evaporated, so it has similar risks. It is corrosive and may cause fluoride poisoning; inhalation of the vapors may cause lung edema. Like hydrogen fluoride, it attacks glass and stoneware. LD50 value of hexafluorosilicic acid is 70 mg/kg.

Hydrogen fluoride (HF) is a deadly toxin.  And so there were had the fire to make the HF.  Nice mixture; it's kind of a miracle, and a testament to the care of the first responders, that no one was hurt of killed.

A pretty amusing video of taken by passersby of the the explosion.  The commentary is PG (at best)...