Officials monitor barge acid leak off Texas City
OK, so you're trying to float 235,000 gallons of sulphuric acid to Who-Knows-Where on a barge. Hey, what could possibly go wrong?? Well, not much, except....
Federal and state experts continued monitoring air and water quality today in Texas City, where a barge leaking sulfuric acid capsized in Galveston Bay.
The barge appeared to be bulging from chemical reactions inside the hull, officials said.
The vessel, carrying 235,000 gallons of the acid in its hold, turned over in about 30 feet of water on Monday near at the Sterling Chemicals plant, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Andy Kendrick.
Crews attempted to right the barge, but it rolled over about 7 a.m. Wednesday.
Workers trying to right the vessel and about 30 employees of nearby chemical plants and office buildings were evacuated outside a half-mile perimeter today after the barge began to bulge, Kendrick said.
"The (chemical) reaction inside the hold is building up pressure," he said.
No injuries have been reported, officials said. Sterling Chemicals officials declined to comment, saying the Coast Guard is handling the incident.
Kendrick said it is unclear why the barge capsized or what had caused pressure to develop inside it. There is very little danger that the barge will explode, officials said, and the sulfuric acid leaking from it poses little or no danger to human health or the environment, officials said.
Ummm, yeah...and monkeys fly out of my butt. You mean to tell me that almost a quarter-million gallons of one of the most corrosive substances known to man DOESN'T pose a threat. Jeez, don't hate me because I'm stoopid, OK?? Of course, if things do go wrong, it wouldn't be the first catastrophic explosion in Texas City. Not many people know it, but in 1947 Texas City was the site of what is still the worst industrial accident in US history.
So who says history can't repeat itself??
