ACID CLOUDS RISE IN VENTURA : CORROSIVE FUMES CLOSE 30 BUSINESSES, KEEP 1,500 RESIDENTS INDOORS.Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer Toxic plumes produced by hydrochloric acid hydrochloric acid: see hydrogen chloride. hydrochloric acid or muriatic acid Solution in water of hydrogen chloride (HCl), a gaseous inorganic compound. leaking from an oil company tank Wednesday forced the closing of neighborhoods in northwest Ventura, affecting more than 30 businesses and some 1,500 residents. Ventura fire crews, responding to a report from a passing motorist about 6 a.m., found billowing bil·low n. 1. A large wave or swell of water. 2. A great swell, surge, or undulating mass, as of smoke or sound. v. bil·lowed, bil·low·ing, bil·lows v.intr. 1. vapor clouds coming from the tank at BJ Services on North Ventura Avenue. Throughout the morning and afternoon, the highly corrosive corrosive /cor·ro·sive/ (kor-o´siv) producing gradual destruction, as of a metal by electrochemical reaction or of the tissues by the action of a strong acid or alkali; an agent that so acts. acid formed clouds dissipated dis·si·pat·ed adj. 1. Intemperate in the pursuit of pleasure; dissolute. 2. Wasted or squandered. 3. Irreversibly lost. Used of energy. by shifting winds until hazardous materials crews could plug two leaks and control a pool of the liquid. No injuries were reported. Residents were told to stay indoors and businesses remained closed into the early evening hours, said James Glew, spokesman for the Ventura Fire Department. The closure reached from Stanley Avenue nearly two miles north to Shell Road, and from the Ventura River The Ventura River is a river in Ventura County, California. The river forms at the confluence of Matilija Creek and North Fork Matilija Creek, 15 miles upstream from the Pacific Ocean. on the west to Cameron Street a half mile to the east. ``Because of the time of day, we've been fortunate. It was so early, no one got into the area,'' Glew said. About 40 teen-agers participating in a youth program were moved from the hazard area to the West Park Community Center, where the American Red Cross American Red Cross: see Red Cross. set up an evacuation evacuation /evac·u·a·tion/ (e-vak?u-a´shun) 1. an emptying. 2. catharsis; emptying of the bowels. e·vac·u·a·tion n. shelter. Helen Proffer To offer or tender, as, the production of a document and offer of the same in evidence. proffer v. to offer evidence in a trial. spent the day in the evacuation shelter following a medical appointment after police told her she couldn't return to her home on Omaha Avenue. Proffer was forced to buy medicine for her heart at a nearby drugstore, since she could not get home for hers, but she said there was no need to panic. ``I received a lovely lunch. People calmed me down,'' Proffer said as she sat on a park bench outside the shelter. ``I used the phone to tell my daughter to stay put. She's in the house with the pets.'' About 1,000 gallons of the liquid, with a 35 percent concentration of hydrochloric acid, leaked out of the tank but did not get off the BJ site, Glew said. BJ Services uses the hydrochloric liquid to clean wells, pipes and other oil-industry equipment. Glew said workers were drawing the acid from a 2,500-gallon tank Tuesday and were scheduled to complete the work Wednesday. ``They stopped and were going to start again (in the) morning,'' he said. Crews from five agencies, trained to handle hazardous materials, dealt with the incident in the 2500 block of North Ventura Avenue. Firefighters wearing protective gear used sand berms to keep the leaking hydrochloric acid on the site. Two teams then went onto the site to stop two leaks. A pipe was connected to the leaking tank to pump the remaining hydrochloric acid into another tank, Glew said. The company brought in a private contractor to complete the site cleanup. The work was monitored by the Ventura County Environmental Health Department. ``Something this big doesn't happen very often,'' said Craig Cooper, one of the county environmental health specialists called to the incident. ``That (acid) was pretty concentrated.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--color) Workers in corrosion-resistant suits s hower off after helping to stop a hydrochloric acid leak at a Ventura industrial site. (2) Ventura police Officer Tom Higgins Thomas Higgins (born July 13, 1954 in Colonia, New Jersey) is an American-born Canadian and American football player and coach. He played linebacker at North Carolina State University and for one season (1979) with the National Football League's Buffalo Bills. explains a road closure to residents of Ventura Avenue after an industrial leak formed acid clouds. Phil McCarten/Daily News |
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