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Tag Archives: Hazardous chemicals

Department emergency staff respond to 13-car train derailment

Department’s Environmental Emergency Response staff were dispatched to the scene of a 13-car train derailment near Mosby, Missouri on Saturday, Oct. 27. 

Union Pacific Railroad contacted the 24-Hour Spill Line at 5:26 a.m. to report a derailment of a Canadian Pacific train. Three hopper cars landed in Fishing River, each carrying approximately 80,000 pounds of glyphosate intermediate cake, a product used in the manufacture of herbicides. One tanker was leaking liquid fertilizer but this did not impact the creek as an earthen dam was constructed around the area.

Mosby train derailment

Environmental consultants from Canadian Pacific Railroad collected water samples. Readings for pH level of the river indicate that there was no impact from the herbicide product and no fish kill was observed. The Fishing River remains dammed above and below the impacted area. After the rail cars are removed and it is safe to enter the area, a response contractor will pump the contents of the damned area.

The bridge was compromised in the derailment making removal of the derailed train cars difficult. A large crane was onsite to repair the bridge. Due to the position of the derailed cars, equipment being used and damage to the bridge combined with concern for personnel safety issues slowed efforts at the scene. The Environmental Emergency Responder conducted further investigation Monday.

The Environmental Emergency Response section is called to the scene of more than 300 emergencies each year, including fires, traffic accidents, leaking storage tanks and other incidents that could have a negative environmental impact. The department’s 24-Hour Spill Line receives more than 1,600 incident reports annually.

To report an environmental emergency, including fuel spills, please contact the 24-Hour Spill Line at (573) 634-2436. For more information about the program visit Environmental Emergency Response.   

Mosby train derailment incident

 

Posted on Oct 29, 2012

Don’t Kick the Bucket!

On March 5, the department’s 24-hour Environmental Emergency Response Hotline received a call from the Missouri Department of Transportation regarding an abandoned five-gallon bucket on East bound I-70 in the St. Louis area.

The label on the bucket indicated that the contents were a corrosive industrial cleaner. The bucket appeared to be about 1/3 full. Emergency staff responded and over packed the container, placing it into the abandoned container storage facility at the office. Staff will characterize the liquid and neutralize if necessary.

If you see a leaking or abandoned container, or witness an environmental emergency, please call the Missouri Department of Natural Resources at 573-634-2436. Do not touch the material or abandoned containers. An environmental emergency poses an immediate threat to the public health or the well-being of the environment.

Emergency response is the department’s front line of defense against significant and imminent hazardous substance releases that impact public safety and the environment. Duty officers monitor the statutorily mandated Spill Reporting Hotline 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. 

Staff provide technical assistance regarding the chemical and necessary cleanup actions, work with the responsible party to ensure that proper cleanup is completed and impact to the public health and environment is minimized, conduct notifications to various agencies, and determine if an on-site response is needed by emergency staff.

On average, the Environmental Emergency Response section receives more than 1,500 incident calls and responds to nearly 450 hazardous substance emergencies each year.

An environmental concern is a situation that you believe threatens the environment, such as a trash dump or discarded waste tires in a stream.

 

Posted on Mar 14, 2012

What has Missouri’s hazardous waste been up to?

There’s hazardous waste in Missouri? You betcha. More than you may think.

Thankfully, the department has a program, the Hazardous Waste Program, that deals with hazardous waste on a daily basis. 

Want to know what the program is doing to protect Missourians and the environment from these hazards? Check out the latest issue of the Hazardous Waste Management Commission Quarterly Report.

It’s actually a lot more interesting than the name might let on – lots of color photos and descriptions of sites from across the state. You never know, there may be a feature on the old gas station or empty lot just down the road from your house.

Topics in the July through September report include:

  • How engineering controls work and when they are used.
  • A grant to conduct environmental assessments for abandoned gas stations along Route 66.
  • The program’s involvement with sites in Rogersville, Trenton, Kansas City and St. Louis.
Posted on Jan 04, 2012

Northwest Missouri, Missouri River flood response

On Oct. 14, the Environmental Emergency Response Section (EER), the Buchanan County Emergency Management Director, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) conducted a flyover of the Missouri River.  The primary mission of the flyover was to identify any abandoned or orphaned hazardous materials containers.  This information gathering event will enable EER to develop a reconnaissance plan to retrieve any containers in and around the floodway.  The MSHP provided a fixed wing aircraft for the flight.  On Oct. 19-20, EER On-Scene Coordinators from the Kansas City Regional area conducted ground reconnaissance of the containers identified during the Oct. 14 flight.  Less than fifteen containers have been identified as being left behind by the flood waters.  The containers are of sizes varying from small propane cylinders up to a 10,000-gallon underground tank.  The containers are mostly empty.  EER will be working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on recovery and disposal of these orphaned containers
The department urges citizens in flood-prone areas to secure propane tanks properly and mark the tanks to help identify them and avoid safety problems prior to flooding. 

Information regarding reducing the impact of flooding regarding propane tanks and agricultural chemicals is available in the department’s fact sheets:

Reducing the Impact of Flooding – Propane Tanks

 and Reducing the Impact of Flooding – Agricultural Chemicals

To report an environmental emergency, including fuel spills, please contact the department’s spill line at 573-634-2436.

 For more information, please visit the Environmental Services Program web site. 

 Visit the department’s Natural Disaster Resources for more information regarding disasters and disaster resources.

Posted on Nov 03, 2011

Environmental Emergency Response to Howard County trailer fire

The Department of Natural Resources’ Environmental Emergency Response Section was called out Oct. 25 to a Howard County trailer home fire after several first responders took ill while fighting the fire.

The department’s 24-hour environmental emergency hotline was contacted shortly before 3 a.m. by Brian Kunze, Howard County Emergency Management Director, regarding a fire at a house trailer located in southern rural Howard County.  According to local officials, several responders may have suffered health effects from potential exposure to unknown materials at the scene and required medial attention.  

Mr. Kunze requested assistance with determining the presence of any hazardous materials on-site and to stabilize the scene as necessary before local and state officials continue with their fire investigation. Department responders from two regional offices were dispatched to the scene to assist with site characterization.

 

The department also contacted the Missouri National Guard’s 7th Civil Support Team, based in Jefferson City, and requested them to respond with EER staff and provide support.  Hazmat personnel set up a staging area in New Franklin to develop and implement an incident action plan.

 

Although the investigation into the fire is ongoing, the hazmat personnel have completed their initial survey and there can be no conclusions drawn at this time to identify what caused the symptoms observed in the first responders.  The Fire Marshall continues to investigate the cause of the fire.  

 

On average, the EER Section receives more than 1,500 incident calls and responds to nearly 450 hazardous substance emergencies each year. For more information on the program, visit Environmental Emergency Response.

For more information regarding hazardous waste, chemicals and debris associated with the production of methamphetamine visit Special Projects.  

To report an environmental emergency, including fuel spills, please contact the spill line at 573-634-2436.

Posted on Nov 01, 2011

Department emergency responders oversee mineral oil release from damaged transformer

A department emergency responder managed the cleanup of a mineral oil release after a transformer fell out of a truck and ruptured in DeKalb County.

On Sept. 29, 2011, Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop H notified the department that King City Lumber was transporting a large transformer from Lost Creek Wind Farm, King City, to the manufacturer, when the transformer fell out of the truck and ruptured. The release was estimated at approximately 200 gallons of non-Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) mineral oil. The incident occurred at the junction of Highway 169, Highway 31 and State Route E just east of Union Star, Missouri.

The King City Lumber crew worked to mitigate the spill. Representatives of Lost Creek and the Missouri Department of Transportation were on scene. King City Lumber hired Hazmat Response to respond as well.

The department dispatched an emergency responder from its regional office in Kansas City to assess and oversee the cleanup of the area and to determine the extent of the environmental damage. The spill was isolated and contained to a gravel area for excavation. Environmental impact was minimal.

The Environmental Emergency Response section is called to the scene of more than 300 emergencies each year, including fires, traffic accidents, leaking storage tanks and other incidents that could have a negative environmental impact. The department’s 24-hour spill line receives more than 1,600 incident reports annually.

To report an environmental emergency, including fuel spills, please contact the spill line at (573) 634-2436. To report an environmental concern visit the online form. For more information visit the Environmental Services Program Web page. For more information regarding the department, visit the department’s Web page.

Posted on Oct 04, 2011

When you have a meth lab crisis, who are you going to call?

Law enforcement agencies were being inundated with large illegal quantities of hazardous waste, chemicals and debris associated with the production of methamphetamine. In 1997, at the governor’s direction, the Missouri Methamphetamine Enforcement and Environmental Protection Task Force formed to address this issue. Numerous local, state and federal agencies and organizations banded together and, under the direction of the Special Projects Unit, created the Clandestine Drug Lab Collection Station (CDLCS) Program.

 

Local fire service and law enforcement agencies currently operate 17 authorized collection stations throughout the state with technical and financial assistance provided by the department. The collection stations provide a safe, legal and secure location where meth lab chemicals seized by law enforcement can be managed and temporarily stored pending processing and proper disposal. To date 14,721 meth lab incidents totaling 533,981 lbs. of hazardous waste, solid waste and other debris have been safely processed through the CDLCS Program.

 

The Special Projects Unit works closely with the Missouri State Highway Patrol to sponsor a variety of specialized methamphetamine laboratory training. Included is a 40-hour Hazardous Waste and Emergency Response for Methamphetamine Laboratories (Clandestine Lab) in which particpants are certified to enter and dismantle clandestine methamphetamine laboratories. As an extension of this training, the 8-hour Hazardous Waste and Emergency Response for Methamphetamine Laboratories (Clandestine Lab) Re-Certification is offered at select Highway Patrol Troop Headquarters; for training information please visit the Highway Patrol training website.

The Special Projects Unit also provides a variety of supplies, personal protective equipment and air monitoring equipment to law enforcement at no cost. Inquiries concerning supplies and equipment procurement may be made by email or by calling 573-526-4794.

For more information visit our Environmental Services Program.  

Posted on Sep 29, 2011