Transportation Chemical Incidents – Week of 1-25-24

Reporting Background – See this post for explanation.

Data from PHMSA’s online database of transportation related chemical incidents that have been reported to the agency.

Incidents Summary

Number of incidents – 18 (17 highway, 1 rail)

Serious incidents – 0 (0 Bulk release, 0 injuries, 0 deaths, 0 major artery closed)

Largest container involved – DOT111A100W1 railcar (Acetone, about 2-gallons leaked from improperly installed valve on top of car),

Largest amount spilled – 50-gallons (Corrosive Liquid, Acidic, Organic, N.O.S.) from 250-gallon IBC.

Most Interesting Chemical: Corrosive Liquid, Acidic, Organic, N.O.S. This is N.O.S. (Not Otherwise Specified) listing is PHMSA’s solution to try to include all hazardous chemicals in their Hazardous Materials Table (49 CFR 172.101). It is generally used to label chemical mixtures that exhibit the characteristics of being corrosive (damaging to metals or skin), an organic chemical (with one or more carbon atoms) and acidic (pH <7). Shippers can measure corrosiveness and pH but need to have some level of product knowledge to distinguish between ‘organic’ and ‘inorganic’. These generic labels provide first responders with some basic idea of how to respond to an incident containing the labeled chemical. More information is included in a parenthetical description of the actual chemical involved.