Investigators zero in on cause of blast at mercury plant
Lithium batteries apparently were put in furnace

HELENA D. GEIER Special to the Journal Sentinel  
Published: November 8, 1998
Lithium batteries mistakenly put inside an oven with other materials are the likely cause of an explosion Oct. 14 at the Mercury Waste Solutions plant, according to a state Department of Natural Resources official. Meanwhile, the company is continuing to clean up after the blast and hopes to reopen this week.

After a seal on a recovery equipment door blasted open, the plant was evacuated and the DNR recommended that the plant be shut down until the results of an investigation are known, said Tim Kennedy, waste management specialist with the DNR.

“The company said it was their belief that lithium was mistakenly placed in a load, and that’s what exploded,” Kennedy said. “(The batteries) shouldn’t have been in there. It does look like that’s what caused the explosion.”

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration also is conducting an investigation, Kennedy said.

The plant, which has been open since 1996, separates waste from household, medical and industrial products that contain mercury.

Ovens are used to “cook” the waste, and the captured mercury is recycled, according to a statement released by the firm.

The firm hired a private contractor to do an initial decontamination to bring down the mercury levels at the plant and continued cleanup of the site after workers were allowed back in, Kennedy said.

Kennedy said he and other DNR officials have had several meetings with company representatives and have received data from the firm regarding the incident.

The firm has been cooperative, he said.

Kennedy said he had made requests for more specific data.

“The company is looking at the mistakes that were made and what they need to do to correct that in the future,” he said. “They haven’t been retorting since the incident. We recommended that they not operate. We need to get a good idea of what the cause was and ensure that they have taken steps for prevention.”

Besides asking for immediate changes in procedures at the plant, the DNR is requesting the firm do an audit of operations to make sure they’re operating safely.

“That’s above and beyond the code but we feel it’s necessary to ensure they are operating safely,” Kennedy said.

The DNR has also asked that the firm do continuous monitoring of the air outside the plant and will be following up on its ongoing testing, Kennedy said.

The Racine County Health Department has provided data from monitoring meters operating outside the plant the day of the explosion.

David Maack, of the department’s Emergency Management division, said he notified the DNR of the incident because he wanted to be assured that there would not be any health concerns as a result of mercury being released into the air.

The readings from those meters “weren’t any readings that caused concern for an off-site release,” Maack said, noting that if there were any concern that particles were drifting away from the plant, the surrounding area would have been evacuated.

Maack said he also asked the DNR to take soil samples because had there been an airborne release of mercury vapor it would settle on the ground. The results of those tests are not yet available.

While the DNR continues to investigate, company officials hope to reopen the plant this week. It is not yet known whether the DNR will take any enforcement action, Kennedy said.

Included in the investigation is the review of two fires that occurred at the plant on Aug. 30 and July 30.

“The fact that there have been three fires in the past three months makes you concerned. You wonder if there’s a pattern,” Kennedy said. “We’re looking at the issues that led to those as well as this incident. We requested them to look at their operation and the changes to be made.”

He said company and fire department reports indicate that the fires may have been caused by the failure of a valve in a piece of equipment that allows air into an oven.

“The valve failed, and that failure caused the plant’s collection system to get clogged up,” Kennedy said. “And similar to a wood stove, if there were a plug in the chimney, the smoke has to go back out the front,” meaning back into the plant, Kennedy said.

The firm has made some changes to address that problem, including putting in place plans to reroute the venting of one furnace to another should a similar incident occur, Kennedy said.

The Union Grove plant handles the majority of the company’s mercury recycling processing. The local facility, one of five operated by the Mankato, Minn., based company, occupies 25,000 square feet and employs 18 people from the community.

In addition to batteries, some of the everyday products the company processes for recycling are fluorescent and high-intensity lamps, thermometers and thermostats.

Mercury Waste Solutions provides services to public utilities, electrical contractors, hazardous waste management companies and chemical manufacturers throughout the country.

 
Copyright 1998 Journal Sentinel Inc

Published: October 29, 1998
North Shore Environmental Construction Inc. will be paid $7,621 to remove and dispose of petroleum-contaminated soil at Highway View School, 3284 Pioneer Road. Highway View, which has been closed to regular classes for five years, is used for storage, officials said. The soil was contaminated by an underground oil storage tank that was removed this year.
Copyright 1998 Journal Sentinel Inc.

DON BEHM Journal Sentinel staff   
Published: October 8, 1996
A three-alarm fire that might have been triggered by lightning at a metal plating plant forced officials Monday to close a portion of the freeway system and the downtown campus of Milwaukee Area Technical College. But firefighters who battled the blaze at Artistic Plating Co., at 428 W. Vliet St., said the company’s emergency plan guided fire-control actions and helped prevent injuries. The plan also persuaded officials to shut down parts of two freeways and other area streets.

Artistic Plating’s plan alerted officials to the potential release of deadly hydrogen cyanide gas, said Fire Lt. John Gregory, assistant director of the city’s hazardous material team.

As winds blew smoke from the fire south to Wisconsin Ave., officials closed Highway 145 and a portion of I-43, between the Marquette Interchange and Locust St., beginning at 5 a.m. The entire freeway system reopened by 7:15 a.m.

City streets in a 10-block radius from the plant also were briefly closed, and pedestrians were asked to remain indoors to prevent possible exposure to poisonous fumes, officials said. The plume of smoke from the fire also prompted MATC to cancel day and evening classes at its downtown campus.

During the blaze, officials tested air quality in the area to determine whether gases were being released. None was detected, they said.

“First, firefighters arrived with masks on, and all units stayed upwind on the north side of the building,” Gregory said. “The company’s emergency response plan was extremely helpful to us.”

The plan, filed with the Fire Department and the Milwaukee County Division of Emergency Government, identifies the volume and type of all chemicals stored inside the facility.

The company, founded in 1947, specializes in plating bathroom fixtures and other consumer products with gold and silver. Among the chemicals it stores in the building are sodium cyanide and potassium cyanide.

Precautions taken by firefighters prevented tanks filled with sulfuric acid and other chemicals from overflowing. A reaction between the acid and the cyanide compounds could have created a cloud of highly flammable hydrogen cyanide. Exposure to that chemical could make breathing difficult and cause a person to lose consciousness.

Sulfuric acid, when heated, also emits highly toxic fumes.

The first alarm came at 3:47 a.m., said Deputy Chief Daniel Gengler. A second alarm was made at 4:14 a.m., and the final alarm sounded at 4:54 a.m. The fire was under control by 8:17 a.m.

Workers had been scheduled to begin a shift at 6 a.m.

The fire likely started on the first floor of the plant and spread to the roof, Gengler said. A cause had not been determined, and police were continuing to investigate, he said, adding that no damage estimate was available.

The company’s attorney, Don Gallo of the Michael Best & Friedrich law firm, said the fire might have been started by lightning striking a transformer on the building during an early morning thunderstorm.

“This is the type of fire that could have burned for two or three days,” Gallo said. “But it was out in a few hours. It is a good example of how an emergency response works when there is enough information.”

Artistic Plating’s office at 405 W. Cherry St. and a second plating plant at 1433 N. 4th St. are on the same block, north of Highway 145.