Word: lethality
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...detoxification process, which was to be undertaken only during daylight hours, a helicopter was to circle 200 ft. above the plant. At even the slightest sign of a gas escape, the pilot, protected by a special oxygen mask, would release up to 317 gal. of water to degrade the lethal chemical. If more water were needed, two more helicopters would come to the rescue. All around the facility, blinking lights were set up to help guide the pilots, and the army was to be kept on alert. To dramatize his confidence in the safety of the operation, Arjun Singh, chief...
...from Grimsby, a town of 92,000, the firm imports and stores the chemical in 45-gal. stainless-steel drums. No more than 18,000 gal. is kept in stock at one time. But even with these precautions, Grimsby villagers gathered in protest after they found out that the lethal compound was being held in their midst. They were led by Anthony White, a resident of nearby Pyewipe, who said bitterly: "If someone mentally disturbed broke into the works and released the stuff, we would all be killed...
There is a limit, of course, to how much can be done to detoxify contaminated landfill or to turn a freshly percolating mass of lethal chemicals into the equivalent of whole-wheat flour. That limit is money. In the U.S. alone, the EPA estimates, it would take at least ten years to clean up the 2,200 most dangerous waste sites and require up to ten times the $1.6 billion Congress allocated...
Trucks used for shipping chemicals must be strong enough to survive a rollover without breaking open, and tank cars a derailment. Hydrogen cyanide, a lethal poison, can be transported only in carriers with 1-in.-thick, high-strength steel bulkheads. When a railroad car carrying petrochemicals overturns, the reason may be loose rails, which can break off from their ties and puncture the front of an oncoming tank car. Therefore, industry rules were established that call for adding more insulation and head shields. Cost: $452 million...
...Plant Spokesman Dick Henderson. "It's just our way of communication." But real emergencies in the valley have occurred. Chemical plant explosions have killed 14 people since 1941. At various other times over the past 17 years, thousands of residents have had to evacuate their homes because of lethal gas leaks. In 1978, one plant worker in Institute was hospitalized and 88 others were examined by doctors after a leak of phosgene...