United States Environmental Protection Agency
Region X
POLLUTION REPORT

Subject: 

This site was an emergency response to a transportation incident in Auburn, Washington.  At 9:45 PM on 9/28/07 a Conway Freight truck pulling a tandem set of enclosed trailers made a very sudden stop as a traffic interaction with another large truck and a small passenger vehicle occured.  

The Conway truck was carrying mixed hazardous and non-hazardous cargo.  Cargo records showed that the front trailer had oxidizers, flammables, and corrosives on board.  Flammable products on board were apparently several hundred pounds of paint and paint related materials secured at or near the front of the trailer.  Corrosive and oxidizer products were 16 gallons of concentrated hydrochloric acid (HCl) and several five gallon pails of calcium hypochlorite, which were unfortunately shrink wrapped on the same pallet loaded at the back of the front trailer.  Other materials in the two trailers were apparently non-hazardous.  

As the Conway truck suddenly stopped, the pallet of chemicals at the rear of the trailer came loose in a manner that compromised containers for 8 gallons of HCl.  The acid leaked through the cracks of the wooden floor of the trailer, on to the rear axle and tires of the trailer and onto the road and shoulder.  Auburn Fire Department (AFD), Washington Department of Transportation, and Washington State Patrol responded to the incident initially, and the load and damage within the trailers were uncertain until later.  AFD quickly implemented mutual aid agreements and a large response of 6 fire department hazmat units responded on scene from Auburn and surrounding departments.  

The following is a timeline of events as they occured:
9:45 PM Incident occured.
11:18 PM Conway Freight notified the National Response Center of the incident.  
11:30 PM Phone Duty Officer (PDO) Anthony Barber recieved the notification from the NRC.
11:50 PM Barber suceeds in contacting Auburn dispatch.  
12:05 AM On-scene AFD Incident Commander requests EPA assistance on-scene through their dispatch.  No direct communication was accomplished with the scene until later.  
12:10 AM Barber dispatches RDO Marc Callaghan, ETA 3+hours from PDX; also dispatches START R1, R2, and requests third START member and ER Truck to respond to scene.  
12:25 AM Barber unsuccessfully attempts to contact at least four other OSCs in the Seattle area for more rapid OSC response options than waiting for Callaghan to arrive from PDX.  
12:35 AM OSC Mike Boykin agrees to relieve Barber as PDO and Barber is dispatched to respond to the incident.  Plan at this point is to continue with Callaghan in transit as a contingency while incident is sized up.  
1:25 AM First START member (Jeff Fowlow) on scene.  
1:30 AM Barber and other two START members (Russell and Vassar) on scene; all fire department assets and personnel demobilize immediately.  

Upon EPA and START arrival it was learned that Conway Freight (Moses Ramsey) had obtained the services of NRC Environmental Services, who had four personnel scene (NRC leader was Jason Bailey).  Fire department personnel had conducted a level A entry into the trailer and reported spillage and fuming of acid, but that the other hazardous cargo appeared intact.  Fire department personnel used a Draeger CMS to conduct air monitoring and showed HCL inside the trailer, and only trace amounts outside the trailer.  No other contaminant was detected by them.  Either fire or NRC personnel initiated ventilation of the trailer at that point, and NRC overpacked the acid containers.  

At about 1:40 AM, Barber informed Callaghan that he could discontinue his transit to the incident.  

Barber and START met with Conway and NRC personnel and reviewed PRP plans for further mitigation.  A verbal incident action plan was thus approved by about 2:30 AM.  

At about 2:45 AM Barber briefed WDOT and WSP on hazardous materials plans and they concurred with the planned actions.  
Between about 2:30 amd 4:30 AM NRC neutralized spilled acid and packed contaminated fire department PPE and decon and other debris as well as investigation derived waste.  Undamaged cargo was re-secured and the truck and trailer were removed for inspection and cargo handling at company yard nearby.

At about 3:20 AM, with conditions stabilized and the cleanup well under way, Barber and 2 START members demobilized.  Barber requested one START to remain to monitor conditions and inform him of any significant events or changes.  START chose Jeff Fowlow, who lives a few miles from the spill location to remain and monitor the response.  No significant departures from the plan were noted.

Conway's contractor (NRC) will need to properly dispose of the wastes generated, which they have sound plans in place to accomplish.

No further steps are planned for EPA to accomplish or oversee.

Barber informed informed the Conway Freight representative (Moses Ramsey) of the companies potential liability under CERCLA for the spill and the EPA response costs.  He also infomred Ramsey that EPA would continue to provide oversight of this PRP-led removal until the hazardous materials portion of the incident was completed.  He acknowledged that he understood these matters and stated that they expect to get a bill.  

An additional issue for potential followup with other authorities is that incompatible materials were shrink-wrapped on the same pallet with one another.