DNR, emergency responders prepare for spills and fires

More than 4,000 Iowa facilities reported storing large caches of hazardous chemicals last year.

That list of 'reportable' chemicals numbers to 500,000 — if stored in large enough quantities. For this report, The Gazette focused on five chemicals identified by Eastern Iowa emergency responders as both common and dangerous:

• Ammonium nitrate

• Anhydrous ammonia

• Chlorine

• Ethanol

• Propane

'Stuff that can explode or off-gas and do a lot of damage in a hurry,' is how Johnson County Emergency Manager Dave Wilson described the chemicals.

Millions of tons of chemicals are stored safely across the United States. Companies that work with chemicals design their facilities carefully, install protection systems and train employees to be vigilant and quick-acting.

But when chemical fires or explosions happen, they can kill or maim, create long-term health problems and pollute water and air.

Ammonium nitrate

An April 2013 fire at a West, Texas, fertilizer plant turned deadly when 30 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded just as firefighters started to douse the blaze. Fifteen people were killed and 160 injured.

The fertilizer's explosive capabilities also have been tapped by terrorists, including Timothy McVeigh, who used ammonium nitrate as the base of the bomb he detonated at the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. That blast killed 168 people and injured 680 others.

Ammonium nitrate is stored in large quantities in 44 Iowa facilities (18 in Eastern Iowa), which altogether have an average daily amount of nearly 22,000 tons. Most of these facilities are located in rural areas.

The Sinclair Elevator in Parkersburg has one of the largest stores of ammonium nitrate solution in the state, according to the DNR. The elevator reported an average daily amount of 2,000 tons of 28 percent and 32 percent fertilizer solution, which was identified under the Chemical Abstracts Number (CAS) for ammonium nitrate.

A man who answered the phone at Sinclair last week and who declined to be identified disputed the ammonium nitrate amounts listed in the DNR's report. 'Those numbers are way off. I don't think it's of interest and I don't want to talk about it,' he said.

Ethanol

While some businesses are reluctant to discuss their chemical stores, Penford Products President Tim Kortemeyer explained how his company safeguards the nearly 500 tons of ethanol regularly stored at its downtown Cedar Rapids facility.

'We take it very seriously and put a lot of training and precautions in place for the safety of the community,' Kortemeyer said.

Penford is among Iowa ethanol plants that produce about one-quarter of the nation's ethanol.

Some 150 Iowa facilities (67 in Eastern Iowa) stored ethanol in large enough quantities in 2013 to report to the DNR. Those facilities, altogether, stored an average daily amount of 200,600 tons, making ethanol one of the most common chemicals by volume in the state.

It is also highly flammable.

Before Penford opened the plant in 2008, the company installed several systems and alarms to detect ethanol leaks, Kortemeyer said. The company also put in numerous fire-protection systems, including a process that can smother a fire with a layer of foam.

Penford requires extensive training for employees and has 24/7 on-site incident response, Kortemeyer said. They also hold joint emergency drills with the Cedar Rapids Fire Department.

Unlike chemical storage sites out in the country, Penford has about 1,000 residents within a few miles' radius of the plant at 1001 First St. SW. The company does not send out letters telling neighbors about the ethanol cache, but does hold periodic community meetings, Kortemeyer said.

Chlorine

Chlorine's most common use in Iowa is water treatment.

In Iowa, 266 facilities (89 in Eastern Iowa) reported storing a combined 1,317 tons of chlorine on a regular basis in 2013. Each of Cedar Rapids's two drinking water plants has about 11 tons of chlorine on hand in pressurized canisters.

Undiluted chlorine exposure can be dangerous — even fatal.

A January 2005 train derailment in Graniteville, S.C., released about 60 tons of chlorine gas. The train engineer and eight other people died from inhaling the gas, and more than 500 other people were taken to local hospitals, the National Transportation Safety Board reported.

Cedar Rapids's Northwest Water Treatment Plant, at 7807 Ellis Rd. NW, is surrounded by a 12-foot chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. Only the swipe of a security badge will get you in the building.

Plant Manager Tariq Baloch showed The Gazette how systems detect chlorine leaks and prevent release of the gas into the air.

Crews successfully contained a small leak at the plant in January 2012.

The University of Iowa Water Treatment Plant kept 10 tons of chlorine on hand until a few years ago — and still reports that amount to the DNR.

But following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, UI risk audits recommended the water plant in the heart of the UI campus would be safer with less chlorine on site, Plant Manager Scott Slee said. The plant now stocks just four to five tons of the pressurized gas, he said.

Propane

Propane, which comes from natural gas processing and petroleum refining, is used as a fuel for engines, stoves and grills.

More than 960 Iowa facilities (273 in Eastern Iowa) stored reportable quantities of propane in 2013, making it the third-most commonly stored chemical in the state. Most of the sites use propane directly at their facility or store it for sale to others.

The combined volume of propane on hand for these facilities was 78,600 tons.

The highly-flammable gas is blamed for fires and explosions at industrial sites and homes alike. A broken propane line outside a residential home in Richland caused a 1999 explosion that killed seven people and severely injured six others gathered for a family reunion.

Anhydrous ammonia

Anhydrous ammonia, a fertilizer that delivers nitrogen to growing plants, is stored in large quantities by more than 980 Iowa facilities (300 in Eastern Iowa). Altogether, Iowa's sites have an average daily amount of 270,000 tons of anhydrous ammonia.

'It's so common, people don't think it's dangerous,' said Adam Broughton, a DNR senior environmental specialist. 'But it can freeze-dry your skin. Inhaling it sucks moisture out of your lungs and it causes burns.'

When used as a fertilizer, anhydrous ammonia is compressed into a liquid and stored in tanks. If a hose ruptures or a valve is opened, the pressurized gas can spray into the eyes, face and other body parts. Even short-term exposure to anhydrous ammonia can cause severe chemical burns.

Two employees of a Clinton County cooperative saw this first hand in 2003, when a seam broke on a 1,500-gallon tank they were filling. A cloud of pungent gas burst from the tank, exposing Nathan Nissen, then 24, and Robert Ryan, 68.

Ryan dragged Nissen into a water tank kept on the site for emergency purposes and held him under the water to limit the damage, the Quad-City Times reported. Nissen survived the explosion, but Ryan died from the burns. The older man received the Governor's Lifesaving Award of Valor posthumously that year.

Anhydrous ammonia storage isn't limited to rural areas. A half-dozen facilities store large amounts of anhydrous ammonia near neighborhoods, businesses and major roads in Linn and Johnson counties.

Consumers Cooperative Society in Coralville stores an average daily amount of 80 tons of anhydrous ammonia about a mile from Costco, Cheddar's restaurant and Windmill Manor, a 120-bed nursing home, records show. Consumers Co-op did not return calls for comment on this story.

FYI: Chemicals in Iowa

Most commonly stored chemicals in Iowa, and the number of facilities that store them:

Sulfuric acid — 1,288

Anhydrous ammonia — 981

Propane — 963

Diesel fuel No. 2 — 638

Acetochlor (herbicide) — 563

Atrazine (herbicide) — 509

Gasoline — 477

Glyphosate (herbicide) — 436

Lead — 343

Sodium hydroxide (lye) — 322

Silica — 295

Glyphosate isopropylamine salt (herbicide) — 282

- Source: Iowa DNR's 2013 Tier II report