Leaking fumes “a lesson”

Press, 8 December 1976, Page 3

Leaking fumes “a lesson”

PA Auckland The chemical leakage yesterday at the AH I. glass company at Penrose highlights once again the need for proper and cautious handling of chemicals, says the medical officer of health in Auckland (Dr N. T. Ba--nett). Six people, including three women and an ambulance driver, were taken to Green Lane Hospital for observation after fumes leaked from a two-gallon drum of stannic chloride in the company’s i open-air storage area. About nine surrounding > factories were cleared for,

l.ir.re than an hour after the j ; fumes from the drum wafted near them, and out over the; ■ southern motorway. Dr Barnett said he was p concerned about such events, j because they were happening frequently. “Potentially, C chemicals are very dangerous, although this particular one was more of an irritant,” he ; said There was still vast room for improvement in the ■ handling and labelling ofj chemicals. Although progress; had been made, it was still i ■slow progress. i “This sort of thing is going; jto increase, because there 1 are more and more chemicalsj ( coming into the country.” L He understood the leakage l )

ihad started because the dru..i ihad been old and had cori roded, he said. i About 30 firemen, wearing breathing apparatus and protective clothing, neutralised the chemical by pouring soda ash and s*da lime on to the damaged drum. They were at the scene just before midday, and had the leakage under control by 1.45 p.m. About 200 people were i ordered out of the nearby I factories, but workers at the A.H.I. factory carried on I working throughout the crisis !— the fumes were blown |a- ay from their factory. • The company’s safety- | officer (Mr ,T. Porter) said the i alarm had been raised by a Iman working in the storage

area who had noticed fumes coming from the drum. “He came and told me. a. d at first we thought it was just a fire. When I got there though I could see it was not a fire: the liquid was leaking from the drum, and evaporating into smoke. The six people taken to hospital — three women from a nearby factory, one A.H.I. employee, an ambulance driver, and a fireman — were not in a serious condition, and were understood to have been discharged later yesterday afternoon. Mr Porter said the chemical was used for toughening glass, was a toxic rather than a flammable chemical, and irritated the throat if fumes were inhaled.