The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has assessed civil penalties of $6,750 to SJ Transportation Co. Inc. of Woodstown, N.J., and American Metals Recovery Corp. of Paterson, N.J., for the release of an acid cloud in Mifflin Township, Columbia County, in February, according to Northcentral Regional Director Robert Yowell.
“A lengthy DEP investigation determined that both companies were responsible for this serious incident that caused 1,000 residents within a one-mile radius to be evacuated from their homes and closed Interstate 80 for about eight hours,” Yowell said. “We want to do everything possible to prevent such an incident from recurring in the future, so hazardous materials generators and transporters need to pay attention.”
An SJ Transportation tanker truck was carrying 4,365 gallons of waste acids and strippers generated by American Metals Recovery Corp. While stopped at a westbound rest area on I-80, the driver realized that the mixture was causing acid vapors to vent to the atmosphere.
DEP staff determined that an uncontrolled chemical reaction was caused by overpressurization inside the tanker and burst a pressure disk, releasing the acid cloud.
A review of the hazardous waste manifest by DEP, interviews with employees of both companies and test results of the material in the tanker revealed violations of the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act and the state’s hazardous waste regulations. Manifests must include the name and amount of every waste being transported in each load.
In this case, the manifest did not include ignitable hazardous waste or identify hazardous quantities for lead, mercury and silver.
“The SJ Transportation manifest did not include all of the wastes in the tanker,” Yowell said. “American Metals Recovery employees loaded some incompatible acid corrosives, alkaline stripper and inorganic acids into the tanker at its facility in Paterson, and these did not appear on the manifest.”