March 29, 2009 by admin.

Today I found a March 7, 2009 article about a train derailment in Louisiana.  It is a prime example of serious misconceptions about the environmental dangers of sulphur.

The article is mostly comprised of statements that describe unreasonable concerns or actions based on misconceptions about the dangers of a sulphur spill.  It is not that sulphur, especially in liquid form, doesn’t pose dangers, but the reactions described in connection with the spill of liquid sulphur in the train derailment in Louisiana are excessive and irrational.  Those reactions are about as irrational as is the decision by someone who fears accidents and as a result of that decides to remain in bed, so as not to have to face the dangers of life — while the reality of that is that most people die in bed.

Those comments do not mean that sulphur spills do not pollute the environment.  They do, but unless spilled sulphur contains a large portion of hydrogen-suphide gas (that is deadly in very small concentrations), or unless it became ignited and produces sulphur-dioxide gas (also deadly in very small concentrations), spilled sulphur does not pose much of an immediate and imminent danger to anyone.

In the case of the derailment at Plaquemine, Louisiana,

1. Emergency responders from the Department of Environmental Quality continue to take air and water samples at the site of a train derailment at the Bayou Plaquemine bridge in Plaquemine. Air monitors have been stationed at several areas around the derailment and there have been no readings to indicate any issues with air quality. (Note by folc.ca: It was a good thing that air quality was being measured when the sulphur began to flowfrom the leaking rail car into the bayou, but if there were no readings of hydrogen sulfide tobegin with, those readings will not very likely show up any time later.)
2. DEQ responders continue to take water samples at various points along the bayou. Real-time water samples and field analysis show no ill effects to the environment as a result of the incident at this time. However, DEQ will take additional water samples for further analysis. (Note by folc.ca: There is no way to tell from that what a field analysis would be, but to take water samples right now was and is a waste of time and effort, not unless the sulphur that flowed into the bayou would be left to deteriorate there without any further action.  If that is done, then the water in the bayou will without a doubt turn acidic over time.)
3. The department also brought in its Mobile Air Monitoring Laboratory to take additional samples. The MAML has the capability to take real-time samples as well as take readings from air canisters used at the site. The emergency responders are headquartered at the DEQ Mobile Command Center which has been deployed for this incident. (Note by folc.ca: It does not matter how or by whom air samples are taken in this case, a waste of time remains a waste of time.)
4. Early Saturday morning, five railcars derailed near the bayou. One railcar, containing molten sulfur, is leaking. The molten sulfur is leaking into the bayou where is solidifies and sinks. Presently, releases to the environment and any potential impacts are being contained at the site of the accident. There is little flow in the bayou and cleanup contractors have set out booms. (Note by folc.ca: Of course the molten sulphur solidifies and sinks when it comes into contact with the water.  It is heavier than water and will therefore not float, for which reason there is nothing to catch by the booms set up by the clean-up contractors (which contractors are nevertheless being paid handsomely for their useless efforts), but the sulphur will of course also be cooled down to the water temperature and therefore solidify.)
5. A Best Western hotel in Plaquemine has been evacuated. There is a limited shelter-in-place for residents near the scene of the derailment. Louisiana Highway 1 is closed near the bridge over Bayou Plaquemine. (Note by folc.ca: Those measures are overkill. Unles the escaped sulphur would have begun to burn, none of those measures were required.)
6. LDEQ, GOSHEP, Louisiana State Police, Iberville Fire Department, Plaquemine Parish Sheriff’s Office, Louisiana National Guard, Union Pacific Railroad, Dow Emergency Services and Plaquemine Parish OEP are all currently at the incident site. (Note by folc.ca: What did they all do there, other than stare, talk and twiddle their thumbs?)
7. The State Police, National Guard and local law enforcement are directing traffic to alternate routes around Plaquemine. (Note by folc.ca: Why? There was no reason for doing so, unless the liquid sulphur was covering the road.)

Why was all of that done?  Was it to put on a show, to hide something, or do the officials in Louisiana truly not know any better?  What would they do if there would ever be a real emergency involving a sulphur fire?

Posted in Derailments, Community & Industry, Emission Incidents & Issues | Print | No Comments »

January 25, 2009 by admin.

Highlands Ranch Herald, Colorado, USA

Train crashes in Littleton

By Holly Cook
Published: 01.19.09

A freight train carrying molten sulfur derailed at approximately 11:30 p.m.Jan. 16 in downtown Littleton, causing a non-hazardous chemical spill and disrupting light rail service at Littleton’s downtown station.

No injuries were reported.

The derailment marks the second in Littleton in 13 months.

The train was going 44 mph in a 45 mph zone, igniting numerous small flash fires beside the tracks, Littleton police said. The fires were quickly extinguished by firefighters.

There were three locomotives pulling the 68-car freight train bound from Bonneville, Wyo., to Galveston, Texas, according to Gus Melonas, spokesman for Burlington Northern/Santa Fe.

Three of the 17 cars carrying the chemical were punctured and expelled about 100 gallons of liquid sulfur that congealed in the cold air, according to Melonas.

Molten sulfur does not pose a risk to the public, according to Littleton’s HazMat Team Coordinator, Jim Olsen.

It emits a pungent odor typically described as a “rotten egg” smell, but is not toxic….(Full Story)

______________
folc.ca: The reporter writing the article should have asked herself why, if sulphur is not dangerous and if it poses no risk to the public, a Hazmat coordinator was involved with the derailment of a sulphur train and the resulting fires.

Liquid sulphur is dangerous, so that precautions must be taken when opening the dome lids on tanker cars that carry it.  The  “pungent odor typically described as a “rotten egg” smell, but is not toxic” is in fact very toxic at relatively low concentrations.  The smell the author of the article described is not the smell of burning sulphur but the smell of hydrogensulfide, a gas that may be contained in liquid sulphur and often reaches deadly concentrations in the overhead space of enclosed sulphur-storage vessels.  That even happens in enclosed buildings used for the storage of solid sulphur, for which reason large-capacity storage spaces for solid sulphur are usually not closed off, so that the relatively small quantities of hydrogensulfide gases that tend to accumulate are less likely to reach deadly concentrations.

The gas that Holly Cook should have been concerned about is sulphur dioxide, a gas emitted by fires that burn sulphur, as surely as wood-, coal- or oil-fires emit carbon dioxide from the carbon they consume.  There is one big difference between sulphur fires and fires that consume carbon.

Carbon dioxide is relatively benign, for which reason there are no hesitations over using it in carbonated drinks, such as champaign, beer, pop or sodawater, while sulphur dioxide, even in very low concentrations, is deadly to anything living: plants, insects, animals, birds and people.  It is so deadly that burning a very small amount of sulphur (no more than what would fit into the lid of a shoe-polish tin) in a closed room will will produce enough sulphur dioxide to kill off all parasites infesting that room.  That is what sulphur once was commonly used for, after which it was necessary to thoroughly ventilate the room so that people could enter it without danger to their health and lives.

Sulphur dioxide, made by burning sulphur, is useful for fumigating buildings, holds of ships and similar places, for the destruction of mosquitoes and of insects in grain ami seed ; but the tarnishing effect of the gas on metals requires that care be exercised in using this substance in houses. Seeds for planting should not be fumigated with sulphur dioxide, as their germinating power is injured, and often in face completely destroyed, by this process.

Source: Insect pests of the Lesser Antilles (1912)

Author: Ballou, H. A. (Henry Arthur), 1872-1937
Subject: Insect pests — Antilles, Lesser
Publisher: Bridgetown, Barbados : Commissioner of Agriculture
Year: 1912
Possible copyright status: NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT

The quoted excerpt is from a text file of that book that is available online.

________________

Sulfur dioxide.  This gas holds first place for killing insects and vermin.

Source: The Chemistry of Cooking and Cleaning: A Manual for Housekeepers by Ellen H. & S. Maria Elliott Richards (Hardcover - 1897), p. 178

Industrial sulphur fires are so dangerous that fire-fighting safety-regulations call for a minimum of one two-man fire team (equipped with self-contained breathing gear) at the face of the fire, while another two-man team (also equipped with self-contained breathing gear) needs to stand by to drag back to safety any of the fire fighters at the face of the fire that should fall into any sort of trouble and need to be rescued.

There was a good reason why “Littleton’s HazMat Team Coordinator, Jim Olsen” was on the scene, and a good things that all of the sulphur fires that flared up were quickly put out.  If not, probably at least the centre of Littleton would have had to be evacuated.

(More at http://folc.ca/sulphur_storage/sulphur_poisoning.htm)

It appears that Holly Cook, the author of the Jan. 19, 2009 article on the Littleton train crash, has been had.

Posted in Derailments, Community & Industry, Explosions & Fires, Emission Incidents & Issues, Sulphur-Dioxide | Print | No Comments »