On 19 November 2008, KMCO reported the collapse of a 200,000 gallon AST at their facility in Crosby, Texas to the National Response Center (NRC). The initial NRC report 890448 reported that 150,000 of triethylene glycol (TEG) had been released due to a tank rupture, spraying the material onto the adjacent railroad track and onto a BNSF crew. Company officials indicated that the 200,000 gallon AST contained waste / storm water. NRC Report 890453 was an update to the original NRC Report and indicated an adjacent tank leaked the TEG. The incident occurred on 19 November 2008, and two railroad workers were treated and sent to the hospital for observation. Company officials did not know the cause of the tank collapse, but are investigating the incident.
On 19 November 2008, EPA mobilized its Superfund Technical Assistance Response Team (START) contractor to conduct air monitoring downwind of the facility and in the vicinity of the collapsed tank. START did not detect any LEL or VOCs above background. START confirmed that Tank 94 had contained 191,000 gallons of waste / storm water when it collapsed, causing a Tank 319 (TEG) to be rotated by the catwalk from southwest of Tank 321 to south southeast of Tank 321. This severed the bottom piping of Tank 319 releasing approximately 6,000 gallon of TEG into the ditches on the facility. Two railroad workers were hit with the spray from the collapse of Tank 94. They were placed into emergency rinse showers for 15 minutes before being transported to the nearest medical facility for observation. The ditches were dammed and vacuum trucks were being used to recover the diluted TEG. This recovered water and TEG was being placed in the facility's waste water treatment system. Representatives of the Harris County Hazardous Materials team also responded and collected samples up and down stream of the spill area to identify any off site impacts. KMCO representatives had not established the cause of the incident that had collapsed the tank.
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Maintain contact with the KMCO Representative to obtain additional information.
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