With the massive amount of chemicals being manufactured, stored and transported daily, disasters that require an emergency response are inevitable. The World Health Organization defines such incidents as “an unexpected uncontrolled release of a chemical from its containment”. These types of accidents can be devastating to humans, animals and the environment, but trained response teams routinely assist in reducing the harmful health and ecological effects. The types of disasters that warrant an immediate response include toxic leaks, fires, oil spills, explosions and radioactive or nuclear incidents.
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Toxic Leaks
Some companies house and use chemicals that could be extremely toxic or even lethal when handled improperly. One of the most destructive toxic leaks in history occurred in Bhopal, India in 1984. Union Carbide, a pesticide plant, inadvertently released a mixture of chemicals into the atmosphere including methyl isocyanate, a highly toxic gas. Due to a lack of standardized procedures, personnel was unsure how to manage the deadly gas cloud. Over 600,000 people in surrounding villages were exposed, and the government points to a death toll of over 15,000. The site is still largely contaminated, and clean-up efforts have failed to adequately contain the hazardous waste. This event shows the important role that trained response teams play in negating devastation by revealing what happens in the absence of such personnel.
Fires
Companies that work with ignitable gasses and liquids must take extreme precautions. In early 1971, a Thiokol-Woodbine plant in Georgia caught fire and tragically ended the lives of 29 workers. At least 50 other individuals suffered life-long injuries. The incident occurred when a worker mistakenly added an ignition compound to a mixture of other chemicals which immediately flamed up. The small fire quickly spiraled out of control when it hit the conveyor belt and engulfed the building. Within minutes, the fire had spread to a nearby storage building. Though the plant had established fire-safety procedures, the quickly spreading flames required high-level response teams.
Explosions
As every high school chemistry student knows, combining different compounds is a dangerous business. When certain types of gases or liquids combine, they can have explosive results. In 1989, one plant’s explosive accident was so catastrophic that it initially registered as a 3.5 magnitude earthquake on the Richter Scale. The incident occurred at the Houston Chemical Complex when an error in routine maintenance reversed air connection valves. The error instantaneously emitted over 85,000 pounds of flammable gas throughout the facility. Once the gas reached an ignition source, it exploded. The combined fires and explosions injured over 300 people and killed 23 employees.
Oil Spills
Oil spills, especially when they occur in deep water, are arguably one of the most destructive types of man-made disasters. The recent Deepwater Horizon spill and subsequent explosion has come under extreme scrutiny for the company’s inadequate emergency response that led to the deaths of 17 workers. During the critical moments of the event, crew members hesitated, neglected warning signs and failed to respond appropriately. Interviews have revealed that first-responders failed to alarm the rest of the crew for nine whole minutes. While some of the oil rig’s defenses were activated, many of them fell short of their expected behavior and others were never activated at all.
Radioactive or Nuclear Disasters
Any accident involving radioactive or nuclear material needs to be handled by expert response teams as soon as possible due to the destructive nature of these compounds. Experts are still analyzing the global consequences of the well-known Fukushima disaster of 2011. A series of natural disasters disabled the plant’s power supply and cooling reactors that resulted in the release of an unprecedented amount of hazardous radioactive material.
Toxic leaks, fires, explosions, oil spills and radioactive or nuclear chemical disasters all require emergency response teams to avoid catastrophic damage to human life, wildlife and the environment. These trained experts are our first-line of defense against any such disaster. A quick glance through some of history’s most destructive accidents reveals the extreme importance of these teams.