HAZARDOUS MATERIALS INVESTIGATION REPORT-RELEASE OF HAZARDOUS WASTE ACID FROM CARGO TANK TRUCK, ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA, MARCH 6, 1984

About 1:30 p.m., e.s.t., on March 6, 1984, orange vapors began escaping from an MC-307/312 cargo tank containing 3,200 gallons of mixed waste acids while it was parked at a truck dealership in Orange County, Florida. The volume of vapors increased as the acids rapidly corroded the cargo tank's stainless steel shell. At 5:39 p.m., the material penetrated the cargo tank's shell and poured into the ground. About 250 persons were evacuated from a 3-square-mile area. Twelve persons who came in contact with the released vapors were injured, four seriously. The hazardous waste material destroyed the cargo tank. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the shipper's failure to specify a cargo tank constructed of materials compatible with the hazardous waste acids to be shipped, which resulted in a severe corrosive reaction and disintegration of the cargo tank shell. Contributing to the accident was the carrier's fault to make a positive identification of the material to be transported when it selected the cargo tank, the carrier's failure to provide information to the driver sufficient for him to assure that the load was the material which the carrier expected to be transported, and the lack of information available to the emergency response personnel from shipping papers, the shipper, and the carrier about the composition and hazards of the waste material. the shipper, and the carrier about the composition and hazards of the waste material.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  Bureau of Accident Investigation, 800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1985-3-19

Media Info

• Pagination: 40 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Acids; Compliance; Corrosion; Crash investigation; Hazardous materials; Stainless steel; Standards; Tanks (Containers); Trucks; Wastes
• Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Motor Carriers; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I94: Vehicle Corrosion;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00453084
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB/HZM-85/01
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 27 2004 9:24PM