Crew cools acid tanks

CHARLESTON - Firefighters hosed down several holding tanks near the Rosemont neighborhood Friday to keep 40,000 gallons of acrylic acid from overheating.

The acid, which is used in the manufacture of plastics and adhesives, was being held in tanks with a critical temperature of 120 degrees, said Assistant Chief Raymond Lloyd. When firefighters responded around 2:50 p.m. to the site of Liquid Tranport Corp. on Austin Avenue, the temperature in the five 8,000-gallon holding tanks was 105 degrees.

Lloyd said that if the acid were to overheat, vents automatically would open on the tanks, allowing vapor from the acid to be let off until pressure in the tanks dropped to 5 pounds per square inch.

Firefighters used a remotely controlled deluge gun to spray water on the tanks from a ladder. At 4:20 p.m. Friday, Lloyd said the method appeared to be working but that the neighborhood would have been evacuated if people had been in danger.

Still, he said they'd be at the site for a few hours more to keep an eye on the acid tanks. "We want to leave it in its container, where it's the best place to be," Lloyd said.

Lloyd said that Liquid Transport Corp. had its own cooling system in place but that it was taking a long time to activate. By Friday evening, Lloyd said the temperatures had dropped and the fire department was turning the site back over to Liquid Transport.

Containers full of acrylic acid do not usually sit for long periods on the company's property, Lloyd said, but these tanks already were too hot upon arrival from a ship Friday and needed to be cooled before they were moved again.

According to the EPA, acrylic acid is a strong irritant to the skin, eyes and mucous membranes in humans.