Toxic Chemical Agent Incident Response

ChemSpec is a chemical agent plant that manufactures numerous chemicals for government agencies and civilian corporations. Chemicals manufactured at the ChemSpec plant in Del Rio, Texas, range from pesticides to industrial cleaners and lubricants. The Del Rio plant has a regular staff of 1200 to 1500 employees per shift and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The building was fully equipped with safety equipment and numerous chemical and fire detectors that comply fully with OSHA regulations. One safety device that the facility is not equipped with is a Methyl Isocyanate detector.
At approximately 3:00 p.m. on July 7, 2013 numerous employees working in the insecticide production area of the plant began experiencing nausea, difficulty breathing, sweating, fever, chills, and eye irritation (EPA, n.d.). At that time, a chemical leak of some kind was suspected. The supervisor for the insecticide production area immediately had one of the unaffected workers call the emergency response number (ERG, 2012) while he made sure all of his people were out of the area and accounted for. The worker who called emergency response advised that there was an unknown leak in their area and gave an initial count of people affected and their symptoms.
The supervisor grabbed the portable eyewash stations and medical kits as him and his staff evacuated the area. The recommended safe distance for a methyl isocyanate leak is 150-feet (ERG, 2012), but because the origin and source of the leak was not determined at that time, all employees evacuated the building to await emergency personnel. Once outside, all employees were staged in the parking area to the west of the plant because the wind was blowing to the east (ERG, 2012). Employees who were exhibiting signs of exposure were kept apart from other personnel to avoid cross contamination. They were treated with eyewash solitions and charcoal wipes to attempt to decontaminate themselves until emergency services could arrive to provide medical attention.
Emergency response personnel arrived on scene at approximately 3:18 pm. The first emergency personnel on scene were police who helped secure the scene and ensured noone left the area until cleared to do so. Within minutes of police arrival, two ambulances arrived on scene. EMT personnel were notified when they arrived on site that there had been a possible methyl isocyanate leak. They were instructed to not use mouth to mouth breathing aid. Fire and rescue arrived at 3:25, fire fighters and plant engineers immediately began suiting up with DuPont Tychem (ERG, 2012) suits and full face respirators.
Medical workers administered oxygen to exposed workers who experienced breathing difficulties. As part of the decontamination process exposed workers had their clothing taken (ERG, 2012). Victims eyes and skin were flushed for at least 20 minutes. Rescue workers checked others for signs of exposure to avoid spreading contamination beyond the accident site. People showing symptoms of exposure were hospitalised for the next 15 hours because it could take up to 14 hours for some symptoms to occur (OEHHA, 2001).
Once inside, firefighters discovered that the leak originated with the methyl isocyanate vault tank in the insecticide production area of the plant. Once the engineers assessed the tank, they believed that the leak was caused from over pressure caused by water penetration. The tank was repaired within 12 hours. Factory decontamination started on July 9 after OSHA had inspected the area and deemed it was safe for workers to return.
Of the 1365 people who were working in the ChemSpec plant at the time of the methyl isocyanate leak, 618 were hospitalized. Unfortunately, 122 of those workers died within five days due to numerous ailments caused by methyl isocyanate exposure. Twelve family members of factory workers were later hospitalized after having been cross-contaminated by workers who managed to leave the area before it was secured. Numerous exposed workers continue to have kidney and liver damage as a long-term effect of the MIC exposure. All workers who were exposed will be at higher risk of suffering from chronic symptoms like cancer or reproductive and developmental disorders (EPA, n.d.). No charges or lawsuits have been filed as of yet, however based on past accidents of this magnitude the financial aftermath should be substantial.

References
EPA. (n.d.). Methyl Isocyanate. Retrieved July 12, 2013, from Technology Transfer Network Air Toxics Web Site: http://www.epa.gov/ttnatw01/hlthef/methylis.html
ERG. (2012). Guide 155 Substances- Toxic and/or Corrosive. Retrieved July 12, 2013, from cameochemicals.com: http://cameochemicals.noaa.gov/erg_guides/Guide_155.pdf
OEHHA. (2001, December). Chronic Toxicity Summary of Methyl Isocyanate. Retrieved July 07, 2013, from Office of Environmenal Health Hazard Assessment: http://oehha.ca.gov/air/chronic_rels/pdf/methyliso.pdf