On July 18, EPA Region 6 received two National Response Center
reports indicating an ongoing air release in West Orange, Texas. Region 6
followed up with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) who said
the source was unknown but believed it to be a railcar in the vicinity. Two EPA On-Scene Coordinators and technical assistance
contractors (START) were activated to respond to the incident.
The
EPA was notified by TCEQ that the release was ethyl acrylate from a railcar at
the Eagle Railcar Services facility located at 1993 Foreman Road in West
Orange, Texas. TCEQ conducted community air
monitoring and reported no detections above the action level . TCEQ will
follow up with the Potentially Responsible Party (PRP) with a demand letter to
address state regulatory issues observed and related to the release.
The
EPA arrived and joined Unified Command (UC) with TCEQ, Texas Department of
Emergency Management (TDEM) - Southeast District Office, TDEM - Orange County,
Orange County Department of Emergency Management, and the Orange County Judge's
Office.
The
EPA conducted on-site air monitoring with an X-PID air monitoring meter with a
detection limit of 3 parts per million (ppm) and an action level of 8.3 ppm
(Acute Exposure Guideline Limit (AEGL) 1 for 10 minutes). The EPA did not
detect ethyl acrylate on-site during the response. The railcar was flared while
the contents polymerized. The PRP utilized a water blanket to cool the railcar.
Once the reaction in the railcar was complete, the pressure in the railcar was
at zero pounds per square inch , and only polymerized solids remained.
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