Firefighters at RIghtway Fasteners Inc. on Thursday.
COLUMBUS, Ind. – An acid spill at a Columbus manufacturing facility led to an ordered evacuation and a multi-hour operation on Thursday morning.
The Columbus Fire Department (CFD) was dispatched to Rightway Fasteners Inc. at 9:40 a.m. after a reported chemical spill inside the building.
Plant representatives told firefighters that an acid material, Picric Acid, had escaped its container and had begun to crystallize. According to plant officials, about three quarts of the substance were being stored in a chemical cabinet. An evacuation of the building with about 200 employees inside was ordered.
Picric acid is a flammable wet compound commonly used in the production of explosives, matches, and electric batteries, according to CFD Capt. Mike Wilson. Rightway representatives said that the acid was used during quality testing processes in the past, but could not account for the last time it had been used for such processes.
Due to concerns about an explosion, the Columbus Police Department (CPD) Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team was summoned. The EOD team conducted a reconnaissance of the acid and consulted with numerous hazardous materials and explosives disposal agencies.
It was determined the best course of action would be to remove the acid from the facility and destroy it by a controlled fire at a neighboring vacant field. To prepare the burn site, an excavator was used to dig a hole approximately four feet deep by three feet wide, per CFD.
With the burn site in place, two bomb squad members entered the Righway Fasteners facility, placed the chemical storage cabinet on a wheeled cart, and safely relocated the cabinet to the burn site. The cabinet containing the Picric Acid was then lowered into the burn site. EOD technicians then remotely ignited flares which consumed the materials within the storage cabinet.
Rightway employees were then allowed to return to the facility.
Midwest Environmental representatives, a mitigation contract for Rightway Fasteners, said that samples of the material collected at the burn site will be sent for a lab analysis to ensure that no harmful materials remain on site.
The entire operation lasted approximately five hours.
Controlled burn of acid-Courtesy of CFD
Courtesy-Columbus Fire Dept.
