15000 liters / 4000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia leaked in tanker crash - 5 dead

A semi-truck carrying thousands of gallons of anhydrous ammonia crashed Friday, September 29 and more than half of the toxic gas was released, leading to evacuations and 5 deaths.

The truck was carrying about 7,500 gallons of the toxic substance at the time of the wreck in Effingham County, in the UA state of Illinois, according to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The agency said early estimates say more than half of that were released. That is about 15,000 liters, or 4000 gallons.

At 9:25 p.m. local time, authorities were notified about a crash on the highway “involving multiple vehicles, including a semi-truck that is leaking anhydrous ammonia,” police said.

According to ABC News, exposure to anhydrous ammonia apparently caused the deaths of five people, including two children, when a tanker truck loaded with the hazardous material overturned on a highway Friday night in a rural Illinois community,.

In addition to the 5 deaths, multiple injuries have also been reported.

At least seven other people from six different states were also treated at hospitals after being overcome by what authorities described as a "large plume cloud" that was released when the tanker truck spilled its load on a highway east of Teutopolis, Illinois, Effingham County Coroner Kim Rhodes said in a statement Sunday evening.

According to CNN, officials said approximately 500 people were evacuated from the area. Residents have now been told it is safe to return home, Teutopolis Assistant Fire Chief Joe Holomy said in a news release Saturday night.

“Testing has indicated that the danger from the anhydrous ammonia has dissipated,” Holomy said.

The crashed tanker has been drained, patched and taken to a secure location to be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, the state emergency management agency said in a release. The Illinois State Police is also investigating the cause of the accident, it said.

The crashed tanker has been drained, patched and taken to a secure location to be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, the state emergency management agency said in a release. The Illinois State Police is also investigating the cause of the accident. 

Facts:

Anhydrous ammonia (Hazmat label 1005) is essentially pure (over 99 percent) ammonia,” according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Ammonia at a high concentration can irritate and burn the skin, mouth, throat, lungs and eyes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Very high levels can also damage the lungs and / or cause death.

Effingham County is a town that estimated to be home to 34,000 people. It is located about two hours south of the capital of Illinois, the city of Springfield.

Photo Credit: 

This image of a generic tanker trailer containing anhydrous ammonia, which was originally posted to Flickr, was uploaded to Commons using Flickr upload bot on 5 August 2013, 01:25 by Oaktree b. On that date, it was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the license indicated. Downloaded from Wikipedia.