An Oklahoma City business was evacuated Thursday and several workers were treated after a chemical solution started smoking and made people nauseous, firefighters said.
Fire Maj. Tammy McKinney said several workers at Macklanburg-Duncan, 4041 N Santa Fe Ave., were mixing a sodium hydroxide solution about 3 p.m. when the solution started smoking and three workers became nauseous.
The building was evacuated and the three workers were treated by emergency workers.
“We've given them oxygen and their symptoms have gotten better,” McKinney said.
Eight other employees were evaluated by paramedics, she said.
Fire Deputy Chief Marc Woodard said the mixing of mislabeled chemicals caused the situation. None of the workers were taken to the hospital, he said.
Macklanburg-Duncan manufactures building products such as weather stripping, flooring and decorative moldings.

A tractor-trailer rig leaked potassium hydroxide at West Side Choctaw Travel Plaza on Tuesday, according to the Durant Fire Department.

Firefighters were dispatched to the business at 11:32 a.m. and when they arrived, approximately 25 gallons of the chemical had leaked onto the parking lot, according to a fire department report. The leak was coming from a control valve under the trailer which had been repaired.

Firefighters were not able to stop the leak, so they put trash cans underneath it. The report stated that the chemical was spilling out at approximately 30 gallons per minute, and firefighters caught about 225 gallons with the trash cans.

A chemical clean-up company was called to clean up the scene and firefighters assisted the crew until leaving at 8:40 p.m.

A cleanup crew has entered phase two of a massive clean-up effort in Escondido after 20,000 gallons of sodium hydroxide spilled from a water filtration plant Monday afternoon.

At approximately 3:30 p.m. on Monday, a breach in one of the tanks caused the corrosive chemical to spill from a water filtration plant in the 3400 block of Valley Pkwy on by Dixon Lake, according to authorities.

At about 5 p.m., the Hazmat crews entered the plant to evaluate the extent of the spill. According to authorities, the liquid had traveled down a paved roadway and then onto a dirt area where it was contained.

On Tuesday, the City of Escondido reported that the NRC Environmental Services began to remove the sodium hydroxide that was released into the containment area, as well as the removal of the remaining solution left in the failed tanks.

SAN DIEGO -- An investigation was under way in Escondido Tuesday to determine what caused about 15,000 gallons of lye to spill at a water-filtration complex near Lake Dixon and into a nearby canyon.

The hazardous material release at the plant north of El Norte Parkway was reported about 4 p.m. Monday, Escondido city spokeswoman Joyce Masterson said. The accident did not force any public evacuations but did necessitate a large-scale cleanup of the caustic chemical, she said.

Crews discovered sodium hydroxide, commonly known as lye, leaking out of two malfunctioning 15,000-gallon storage tanks, according to Masterson. About half the spill pooled in a safe containment area, but the rest coursed down a driveway and flowed into a nearby gorge.
Firefighters created a makeshift dike around the dirt area into which the chemical drained, and county hazardous materials personnel were working to determine how best to clean up the substance.
Sodium hydroxide is stored at the plant as a safety precaution, Masterson said. In case of a spill of chlorine, another caustic chemical used at the facility, lye can be combined with it, creating harmless table salt, she said.

Fire officials say they may have identified the cause of an odor that sent 13 people to the hospital and canceled classes for a local high school.

Columbus fire's HAZMAT team responded to Westland High School, 146 Galloway Rd., at about 9:30 a.m. Monday.

South-Western City Schools' Sandy Nekoloff said there was a report of an odor in a classroom.

Columbus Division of Fire Battalion Chief Michael Fowler said they believe the cause of the odor was a drip of sodium hydroxide from a boiler near an airduct system. The chemical was previously referred to as an acute airborne irritant.

Fowler said the chemical was very diluted and was used to keep pipes in the heating system clean and that the drip is the only logical cause they could identify.

The Cassville Volunteer Fire Company and Jackson Mills Volunteer Fire Company were dispatched to Jackson Memorial High School for a fire alarm activation at 12:49 PM.
According to Cassville’s Assistant Chief Adam Poppe, who was the incident commander, when the first apparatus arrived on location it was reported to them that there was a heavy smoke condition in the “C” Wing of the Reider Building of the high school complex. Crews entered the building to investigate and confirmed a smoke condition in the building but no fire.
According to Allison Erwin, Coordinator of Communications for the Jackson Board of Education, the smoke condition was caused from a science experiment gone awry.  Chief Poppe stated that a teacher was demonstrating the reaction of  sodium metals to water and when a sodium metal was placed in water to create sodium hydroxide  it created more smoke than the ventilation fans in the lab could handle and created a smoke condition in the building.
All of the students of the high school were evacuated out of the building when the fire alarm sounded.  After the the fire companies were on-scene and able to deem the areas safe, students from the Clayton Building were allowed to return to their classrooms and students from the Reider Building were moved into the Fine Arts building to await the all clear from the fire department to return to to their classrooms.
As firefighters tried to determine how hazardous the smoke may be from the chemical reaction, they sought out the science teacher and looked to locate the Material Safety Data Sheets (also called MSDS sheets) from the teacher on the chemicals used in the experiments but according to Chief Poppe, the teacher informed them that the MSDS Sheets were removed from the classroom earlier in the year to be updated and had not yet been returned.
Without information as to the toxicity of the chemical reaction Chief Poppe notified the Berkeley Haz-Mat Team, that Department handles Hazardous Materials incidents for Ocean County, and requested a response from them.  He also had the Jackson OEM Coordinator, Barry Olejarz, and the Fire Official for Fire Districts #1, 2 and 3, Frank McDonald, respond to the scene.  Additionally, Poppe had one engine from Whitesville Fire Company respond to assist with fans and manpower to assist in ventilation the fire.


Traffic reopened on Texas 80 in San Marcos around 12:30 p.m. Friday after a chemical spill closed the road for six hours. One eastbound lane of Texas 80 remains closed as the clean up continues this afternoon.


A semi tractor trailer carrying sodium hydroxide or lye, a caustic material, dropped two containers off the trailer around 6:24 am today. Tne 330 gallon container spilled its contents. No one was injured.

Emergency responders, including the San Marcos fire and police departments and Hays-San Marcos EMS, were on scene to respond to the spill this morning

The truck was a part of a convoy for Mission Well Services of San Antonio traveling through San Marcos. Alamo 1, a hazardous materials company from San Antonio, is continuing the clean up.

ANKENY, Iowa -- Fire officials reported a chemical spill early Friday morning at Dhorn Transfer in Ankeny, just north of Walmart.
According to fire officials, six workers were burned by sodium hydroxide.
It happened after midnight but hazardous material crews were still cleaning up at 7:00 a.m.
"During the handling of the material, as far as we know, six to seven employees came in contact with the chemical, and attempted to resolve the issue on their own, and eventually found that they were incurring some injuries from contact with the product," said Ankeny Fire Chief Rex Mundt.
Mundt said the employees transported themselves to the hospital. He said more may workers may have gotten checked out as a precaution.

At 11:12 a.m., police responded to a chemical explosion at a Presidential Way building. According to police, a lab worker was mixing sodium hydroxide and tetrahydrofuran when the mixture exploded in her face. Other employees on scene immediately treated the worker, said police. She was taken to Winchester Hospital for several small cuts on her face and neck. 

Jackson Co. Sheriff's Office (Press Release) - On June 8, 2011 shortly before 4 p.m. the Jackson County Sheriff's Office Emergency Dispatch Center received a report of a semi unit which had crashed on State Hwy 121 near NW Burnette Rd in the Town of Garden Valley in Jackson County.

It was relayed that the truck was hauling shipping containers of sulfuric acid and caustic soda and there was a reported leak in at least one of the sulfuric acid containers. Units from Alma Center FD, Alma Center 1st Responders, Black River Falls FD &EMS, Jackson County Sheriff's Office and Wisconsin State Patrol responded to the scene along with the Jackson County Level B Hazmat team. The Regional Level A Hazmat Team from Eau Claire was also requested and responded to the scene to assist.

An unidentified man was severely injured today while working at a northwest side business. The victim was transported by CareFlight to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio, after falling into a vat of caustic soda at Levi Holdings, Richmond Fire Department Battalion Chief Jerry Purcell said.

The heroic actions of a co-worker saved the man’s life, Purcell added. That co-worker was transported to Reid Hospital for treatment of burns on his hand and arm. Neither man was identified Tuesday by RFD.

The incident occurred around 4:30 p.m. at the tanker cleaning business, 1655 Rich Road.

According to Purcell, the man who fell into the vat suffered third-degree burns over 60 to 70 percent of his body and was taken to Miami Valley for treatment.

A hazardous material spill on U.S. 101 stalled rush-hour traffic for about six hours Tuesday.

Police responded to a medical call from the driver of a 1998 International big-rig on the northbound side of the freeway about 1:34 p.m., according to California Highway Patrol officer Jaime Rios.

Upon arrival, officers discovered the driver was having difficulty breathing, and found that his truck was leaking an unknown chemical onto the shoulder of U.S. 101 between Dunne and Tennant avenues, where the vehicle was stopped, police said.

Police called the Santa Clara County Fire Department to the scene, and the leaking chemical was later determined to be sodium hydroxide, or lye, a common ingredient in soap and detergent. About five gallons of the chemical spilled out of the truck onto the freeway.

WEST CARROLLTON, Ohio -- There were big problems at the Appleton paper plant in West Carrollton early Monday morning when a chemical used in the paper-making process began leaking from a parked rail car.
Between 200 and 500 gallons of sodium hydroxide spilled onto the ground.
West Carrollton firefighters responded to the plant about 3 a.m. on Alex Bell Road and found the rail car parked under a protective awning spewing clouds of chemical vapor and leaking.
“They were transferring product into the building. They’re not sure if a hose broke or a valve broke, but it developed a leak on top of the tank car,” said West Carrollton Fire Chief Jack Kiester.
Hundreds of gallons of sodium hydroxide, also known as lye or caustic soda, escaped to the parking lot area.
A couple of crews from the regional hazardous materials team came to help firefighters assess the problem and the next steps they should take.
Sodium hydroxide is used to help break down wood into pulp as paper is made. It’s used in a mixture of 50 percent water, 50 percent chemical, but it can cause burns, scarring and permanent injury to tissue that it comes into contact with.
Firefighters called in paramedics, just in case. But, the precaution proved unnecessary.
Firefighters discovered all the Appleton workers who stopped the leak wisely put on protective gear and breathing apparatus working close to the leaking rail car.
“The employees, once they were done, went in and showered and decontaminated, made sure there was no problem. We came in and did evaluations. Everybody’s fine,” Kiester said.
Firefighters say they closed up and put barriers in front of a couple of storm sewers in the area to keep the chemical out. Appleton also called in an EPA-approved environmental company to help with liquid recovery.
“It’s not going to go anywhere,” Kiester said. “They have to vac it all up and test the area around it. Then dilute it to get it all up.”
Firefighters said they had a couple of things working in their favor in this case. First, there wasn’t enough liquid that spilled to make an airborne threat, therefore no evacuations were necessary. Secondly, all of the leaking happened in the parking lot, not inside the building, where it would have caused much greater concern.
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WEST CARROLLTON, Ohio -- HAZMAT crews were called out to a chemical leak at the Appleton Paper plant on Alex-Bell Road.
The report came in around 3 a.m. of a train tanker car outside the plant with some kind of leak.

This brought about a precautionary response but workers from the plant had the leak pretty much stopped when emergency crews arrived.

Some 200 to 500 gallons of sodium Hydroxide were spilled. Firefighters closed off area storm sewers to make sure none of the caustic chemical got into the sewer system.

Everdry was used to soak-up some of the leaked chemical.

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. -  A freight train derailed and sideswiped another on the banks of Puget Sound, sending some cars carrying a hazardous chemical careening off the rails near the water, officials said.
Fourteen cars derailed Saturday night and most were empty, but four were tankers carrying sodium hydroxide, or lye, BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said. The chemical is used in industry and to regulate the pH levels of water but can be hazardous and cause breathing problems and burns.
None of the chemical appears to have gone into the water, Melonas said.
No one was injured in the derailment, which occurred about 8:30 p.m. near the Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place, 13 miles south of Tacoma in Pierce County, .

Firefighters in Cornwall have been dealing with a chemical incident after containers were found to be leaking.

About 40 firefighters attended the incident at Pensilva Industrial Estate after they were alerted at about 1530 GMT.

The fire service said the liquid has now been identified as sodium hydroxide and originated from one container.

An initial cordon of 50m (0.05km) was set up but has since been reduced to 20m (0.02km).

During the incident six firefighters wore gas-tight chemical protection suits and breathing apparatus to deal with the chemical spillage.

HYANNIS - Specially trained firefighters are still at the scene of a sodium hydroxide spill inside a water pumping station at 91 Smith St. in West Hyannisport.

The area of the spill has been contained and no evacuations have been ordered, Hyannis Fire Lt. Thomas Kenney said. Water service to residents and businesses in the area has not been affected.

However, because of the caustic nature of sodium hydroxide - a chemical used in water purification - the scene has been declared a Level 2 hazmat situation.

October 1, 2010 (HICKORY HILLS) (WLS) -- An accident this morning shut down a busy intersection in west suburban Hickory Hills for most of the day.

A tanker truck carrying sodium hydroxide hit a utility pole at 95th Street and 76th Avenue.

The pole fell across the truck's trailer, which became tangled in power lines.

The crash caused sodium hydroxide to leak from the tanker.

Two nearby restaurants were evacuated as a precaution.

WEST SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. - A semi carrying 3,000 pounds of caustic sodium hydroxide rolled over on Interstate 90 west of Spokane early Monday morning, completely shutting down I-90 eastbound and forcing drivers onto a detour around the wreck.
The sodium hydroxide did not leak.  It was contained inside of barrels in the semi's two trailers.
The male driver was trapped, but fire department crews were able to cut him out of the cab.  An ambulance took the driver to Sacred Heart Medical Center.  The extent of his injuries are unknown, but they were not life threatening.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — A Cedar Rapids overpass is re-opened almost 12 hours after a tanker-truck carrying chemicals overturned and forced its closure.

The tanker overturned on the Interstate 380 northbound on-ramp just before 6 a.m. Wednesday, which prompted firefighters to establish a 150 feet "safe zone" around the truck. The Wright Brothers Boulevard overpass between the freeway exits was included in the closure area.

The chemical, sodium hydroxide, is an irritant to the eyes, skin and mucous membranes.

The driver of the truck, 39-year-old Joe Short of Colona, Ill., was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. He was driving the chemical from Muscatine to Red Star Yeast in Cedar Rapids.

RAMAH, LA (WAFB) - Louisiana State Police reopened all lanes of Interstate 10 early Friday morning after an overturned 18-wheeler caused a shutdown for several hours.

The tractor trailer overturned Thursday afternoon on I-10 near Grosse Tete, causing it to leak sodium hydroxide, also known as lye.

According to troopers, all lanes on I-10 west at the Lobdell/LA 415 exit and on I-10 east at the Ramah exit were officially opened at 3:50 a.m.

A hazmat crew worked to contain the sodium hydroxide, which according to the CDC, can cause eye and skin irritation.

Kids playing with water led to a hazardous chemical scare in a Woonsocket neighborhood Sunday afternoon, firefighters said.
Residents of a Grove Street home said they noticed a strong smell of ammonia coming from the basement around 3:00 p.m. Taronda Robinson, who called 911, said the odor was overpowering.
"You couldn't stand it," Robinson said. "You had to go back upstairs and get fresh air."
Firefighters said they found a smoking 7-gallon barrel of sodium hydroxide in the basement. They evacuated the three-story home and two others nearby, and shut down Grove Street.
Sodium hydroxide is commonly used to clear drains, and reacts strongly with water.
Investigators determined water dripped into the barrel while a group of kids were having a water gun fight in the basement.
Hazmat crews said the heat from the reaction melted the lining inside the barrel, which generated the pungent smell. They said it could have gotten hot enough to start a fire.

An emergency response to two suspected containers of hazardous materials scrambled the rush hour for returning New York City bus commuters, forced the evacuation of some Mount Pocono buildings and paralyzed businesses Monday afternoon.
Police and emergency personnel evacuated the businesses on Fork Street, as well as those on the area of Route 611 between both ends of the Fork Street half-loop following the discovery of two containers thought at first to contain sodium hydroxide. Someone had found the five-gallon plastic containers, with a chemical that possibly had spilled, in the parking lot between the Mount Pocono Professional Center office building and the eye doctor's office on Fork Street.
"It looks like someone didn't know what to do with these two containers and illegally left them in this parking lot sometime over the weekend," said Deputy Director Bruce Henry of the Monroe County Emergency Management Agency.

WOODBURN — Woodburn hazardous materials crews responded to a chemical leak Wednesday north of town on I-5.

According to the fire district, a Reddaway company freight truck pulled into a port of entry three miles north of Woodburn for an inspection when officials discovered something seeping out the back of the trailer.

The truck was pulled into the containment area and authorities called Hazmat crews from Woodburn, Salem and Aurora for assistance.

The leak was determined to be sodium hydroxide, an acidic liquid cleaning agent, which had spilled from a 55-gallon drum punctured in the truck.

The Starkville Police Department in conjuction with the Starkville Fire Department responded to hazardous material incident where three children, ages two years old, three years old and five years old had been exposed to sodium hydroxide near building 19 in the Brookville Gardens Apartment Complex.
The victims were transported to the Oktibbeha County Hospital Emergency Room by relatives for apparent chemical burns that appear to have been from orally ingesting the chemical.
The chemical was located near a public service man hole. The area was decontaminated and the children are continuing to be treated at the Oktibbeha County Hospital.