Chemical Leak - Don't inhale!!

[DNall]

Leak at NALCO Chem in Sugar Land. 

CAP's not deployed or anything - we'd just be dodging helicopters anyway - but I thought I'd mention I just saw my house on Fox. We're upwind I guess. They're evacuating what seems like imedeate explosion fallout are on the upwind side - I'm in the neighborhood right next to that they apparently isn't being evacuated. What I guess is the downwind side they're evac'ing further from the plant than I am here.

This plant is just right & off the end of the runway at our field. So, in 95/6 we had a guy from the plant to brief us on thier operations in case we responded to a crash into their facility or something - which we used for a SaREx scenerio soon after. Guy assured us up & down that there was no way to combine any items they have there into a dangerous substance - whatever MR PR man. Apparently birds dead from flying thru this stuff a mile & half from my house? Nice.

Well that's the first half of my entertaining day for ya. 

[Psicorp]

Just as long as the wind doesn't change direction.   What was the Department of Homeland Security's advice about plastic sheeting and duct tape?   

Good luck, sir, and be careful out there.

[DNall]

  Right.

Neighborhood on the downwind that's farther away than me got evacuated. Upwind, a real small neighborhood (in what I'd term the blast zone) between me & this incident is evacuated. High School on the OTHER side of me from the plant got evac. It's just funny they evac'd everything around me seems like & we're shelter in place. Not sure how I feel about that.

Sounds like it's settled down though, least the helos are gone. If it weren't for the rolling evac orders I'd think the FD just jumped the gun on an unknown, but maybe not. I think it's going to turn out to have been an explosion risk, not chem/vapor hazard.

[JohnKachenmeister]

Has Louis Farrakhan claimed that George Bush blew up the chemical plant yet?

[DNall]

Not yet, but I'm sure there'll be a theory blaming it on Tom Delay before long.