Chemical Spill at my uni

[ecoli]

I work in a microbiology/genetics lab at my university. This morning, I was in the middle of an experiment, when I heard shouts from the other side of the lab. "Get out everyone, there's been a chemical spill in the building, everyone has to get out now."

 

So I quickly grab my laptop, and my labmates and I run out of the lab. While walking down the stairs, a group of firefighters, garbed in full gear, complete with oxygen tanks, fire-axes and crowbars rush past us up the stairs. I'm sort of scared now, because I'm thinking if they need O2 tanks to avoid breathing in vapours, then it must be pretty serious. Also, I was keenly aware that they weren't providing breathing tanks for any of us.

 

So, I get outside, and we see about half the building has already been evacuated, with the rest coming in behind us. There are fire trucks, police cars and ambulances all over the place, even blocking the road. More firefighters in full garb. There are also people putting on, what appeared to be, hazmat suits.

 

Guess what happened... I find out that some delivery guy was bringing an order into the building when a box got knocked off his cart. He spilled 4 liters of.... wait for it... methanol.

 

Yup, just methanol. for those of you who don't know, methanol is not particularly that dangerous unless ingested, and will evaporate quickly.

 

The hazmat suited guys (eventually) make it into the building. Meanwhile the delivery guy is stripped, and his clothes are put into red biohazard bags (poor guy). Eventually, they realize the should probably give the guy something to wear and wrap some lab coats around him. Also, his truck is blocked in by the firetrucks, and can't get out.

 

A while later, the hazmat guys bring out a small drum of, what I guess, contains the methanol (what little of it didn't evaporate already). And the Hazmat team, though they looked completely clean from my angle, get hosed off by a fire hose from one of the trucks, in a Hazmat decontaminating pool.

 

Finally someone comes over to us, who looks like they have some authority, and she tells us what's going on. We ask her why the fire alarms weren't pulled (as is custom in most emergency situations) and she tells us it was because there was no fire, but it would be looked into.

 

After about an hour and a half, they let us back into the building, but they turned up the vacuum system in the building, so get the fumes out and to cycle the air, I guess. The problem, is that this changed the pressure significantly in our P2 lab (for dealing with hazardous pathogens), which set of an alarm. (sigh).

 

What's worse is that the incident disrupted (and ruined) the experiment I was running that day. So that was a waste of the last three days.

 

So yeah, fun day.

 

some pictures:

 

 

 

I was wondering if anybody else thought this was a response that far outweighed the situation. Sure, I know that they want to be cautious. But this bordered on the ridiculous. I half beleive that they were just bored with school being in the quiet summer session, so the emergency services department jumped at the chance at some action. (including suiting up several 'backup' hazmat guys).

 

I find it funny that they went over the time in some ways, but in other simple ways where completely lacking. Like a simple thing of pulling the fire alarm. Instead of sounding an alarm that would have let everyone in the building know about an emergency situation at the same time, they sent cops in to go around the building, yelling like idiots for everyone to get out. As a result, it took 10-20 minutes for the building to be completely be evacuated. Were it a real emergency, this would have been inadequate.

 

 

Or maybe the problem is that scientists just like to complain about everything... especially when it comes down to criticizing their university amoungst themselves.

 

Thoughts, anyone?

[Comandante]

It just looks like an ordinary drill exercise. Don't know exactly whose idea that could be, either your uni or fire brigade, whoever thought a little exercise would be beneficial made the decision; other than that I think they all knew very well what was spilled, where and how dangerous it was.

[insane_alien]

if thats what they do for methanol then you better be prepared to get stripped and shoved into a decontamination shower if anything mildly serious gets spilled.

[YT2095]

Yup, just methanol. for those of you who don't know, methanol is not particularly that dangerous unless ingested, and will evaporate quickly.

 

or gets a source of ignition.

[John Cuthber]

Yeah, It's just methanol. Roughly as flammable as gasoline. Burns with a near invisible flame so it's possible to walk into a methanol fire before you see it.

It's got an idlh value of about 8 g /metre cubed so 4 liters ie 3.2Kg is enough to make 400 cubic metres of air unbreathable.

Hey, why tell anyone to get out of the building?

 

It is noted for its ability to be absorbed through the skin but that's no reason for the delivery bloke to remove any contaminated clothing. It sends you blind at doses less than it takes to kill you but if it's a choice between that or flashing next week's washing at passers by then hey, who wants their underwear on display.

Get 6 % or so of it into the air and then you can light it too. This stuff is used to power racing cars but that's no reason to worry about it exploding in the building is it?

 

Seriously, as far as I can see the only things that went wrong during that event were that the stuff should have been packed better and someone should have tripped the fire alarm to get everyone out. I would ask why you didn't set the alarm off ecoli, but I know that when I had an incident with a leaking hydrogen cylinder I didn't sound the alarm. People don't always think straight in emergencies.

At the end of the day nobody was hurt, the emergency services might have had their day livened up a bit and your experiment went West.

As you said,

"Or maybe the problem is that scientists just like to complain about everything... especially when it comes down to criticizing their university amoungst themselves. "

[ecoli]

Yeah, It's just methanol. Roughly as flammable as gasoline. Burns with a near invisible flame so it's possible to walk into a methanol fire before you see it.

It's got an idlh value of about 8 g /metre cubed so 4 liters ie 3.2Kg is enough to make 400 cubic metres of air unbreathable.

Hey, why tell anyone to get out of the building?

That's assuming the building doesn't have a decent ventilation system... but ours does.

[raivo]

In my humble opinion such reaction to the methanol spill was surely an overkill. Not that this kind of spill does not need attention - it surely does - but funny thing is that university with all its educated minds is not able do deal with it and so much help from other institutions is needed.

 

This of course is not specific to your university but is more likely modern fashion.

[John Cuthber]

Well, you may say "That's assuming the building doesn't have a decent ventilation system... but ours does."

But there seems to be some question of the adequacy of the ventillation.

"After about an hour and a half, they let us back into the building, but they turned up the vacuum system in the building, so get the fumes out and to cycle the air, I guess. The problem, is that this changed the pressure significantly in our P2 lab (for dealing with hazardous pathogens), which set of an alarm. (sigh)."

 

Anyway, no reasonable ventillation system can keep the methanol concentration above a large spill within safe limits.

 

Ravio, before posting this

"In my humble opinion such reaction to the methanol spill was surely an overkill. Not that this kind of spill does not need attention - it surely does - but funny thing is that university with all its educated minds is not able do deal with it and so much help from other institutions is needed. " Did it occur to you that those educated minds might have a better informed humble opinion than yours and that their reaction was not overkill?

 

Just think what one static spark could have done in the right place at the right time. Then think what you would be saying if they hadn't decided to clear the building and get the clean-up squad.

Would you be saying "Well, we lost the building and a few people but since it was only a methanol spill that's OK"?