SamPratt.com: 18 posts from July 29, 2012

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18 posts from July 29, 2012 - August 4, 2012

August 4, 2012

The trouble with untimely testing

A Ghent reader with a pertinent professional background offers this explanation for why test results may never tell us what went up in the air from the TCI fire on Wednesday in Ghent:

The problem with air sampling is it must be done during the event. There’s no possibility that Monday’s sampling will show any VOC presence unless there are leaking vats (and it sounds like they were all incinerated).

Volatile organic compounds are just that: they volatilize, or evaporate and become airborne, in sunlight. Dioxins, furans, and PCBs will disappear with wind. Residuals can be found in soil, in much less quantity than what was in the air, but there’s not much chance of finding high soil levels after Sunday’s upcoming rain. Wipe samples on windowsills will also be dispersed by Monday. It’s only on internal sills where windows were left open that high levels might be found, and I expect they’ve all been cleaned by diligent parents.

This delay is all very purposeful on the State and Federal officials’ part. NYS DEC has lost more than 1/3 of its employees over the past 5 to 10 years and I think their ability to respond to these kinds of disasters are largely diminished, as is their ability to frequently inspect high-hazard facilities.

On another PCB front, Barry Commoner’s team at CBNS of Queens College discovered 5 years ago that PCBs volatilize even from water as in the Hudson River. His scientists collected samples from trees to within 2 miles of the Hudson River’s PCB spill and found quantifiable PCBs in samples as far as 2 miles (the closer samples had far higher quantities).

For TCI, this means any transformer, or barrel of oil which used to house PCBs which was not in sealed containment [could have] been volatilizing for all nearby residents, and especially employees, to breathe the entire length of TCI’s operations here.

This disaster is so depressing. I hope we can keep this disaster from being swept under the rug. I personally am still having trouble breathing, and my heart palpitations persist. I live in the part of Ghent which was supposedly unaffected by this plume.

in Accidents & Emergencies, Environment, Towns | Ghent | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

An open question to readers

In an earlier post, this site provided a map and chronology of five major fires, all of which resulted in devastating property losses in the 9H corridor running from 66 to Falls Road.

A reader wrote in to say that there have also been several other fires in the past few years just over the Ghent/Stockport line on Knitt Road. Knitt connects to Falls Road, and runs about a mile west of the TCI site on Falls Industrial Park Road. The reader is working on getting additional details.

So far, evidence has turned up of two of these (a shed fire in 2011, and a house fire in 2008 which required a resident to jump from her 2nd story window), but it appears there may have been at least one or two other fires.

If anyone has information on other fires in the West Ghent/east Stockport area in recent memory, please don’t hesitate to email me at this address, so that the fire map and timeline can be updated. General tips, specific memories and links to published reports would all be useful. Comments can of course also be added to this post.

It could be coincidental, but it seems unusual that so many catastrophic fires fires are all clustered together in this part of the County, especially when the Amanda's Fireplace fire was deemed an arson, without a known culprit.

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Releasing confusion

Columbia County’s Emergency Management Office released the following statement after the close of business on Friday (making it very difficult to ask any follow-up questions, or obtain actual test data). The EOC’s release is reproduced in full below.

The statement appears to conflict in several respects with other publicly-available information, notably:

(1) that dioxin testing will not begin until Monday, and results may not be available for several weeks;

(2) that the U.S. EPA’s testing for PCBs is likewise ongoing and not completed; and

(3) that State and other officials have confirmed that they are not yet sure what was stored onsite, and in what quantities.

Meanwhile, the T-U is also reporting that State officials did not return phone calls all day Friday, and that “local emergency leaders in Columbia County are unsure what the testing protocols will be following this week’s chemical-fueled fire at a recycling plant.”

Columbia County Emergency Management Office officials announced today that initial air testing by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicated acceptable levels of volatile organic compounds and particulate matter in the air subsequent to the industrial fire in Ghent, NY.

“Initial testing completed by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) on soot samples also did not reveal detectable levels of PCBs,” Bill Black, Director of Columbia County Emergency Management said. “State DEC is conducting additional, precautionary testing for PCBs in soot samples over the next couple of days.” Samples collected near the incident site, which is where the highest concentration of any hazardous materials would typically be found, were determined to have no detectable PCBs.

There is no reason to believe that there is any threat to the public as a result of the fire, which involved different types of waste oil.

Testing was completed and reviewed by State DEC, State Department of Health, Adirondack Laboratories and U.S. EPA.

There is no reason to believe that there is any threat to the public from any type of hazardous material as a result of the fire, which involved different types of petroleum.

Real-time sampling conducted yesterday at the TCI fire site by EPA and wipe sampling performed by the DEC shows no evidence of a public health concern. As a precaution, DEC will expand its wipe sampling to within a 15-mile radius of the TCI site.

The preliminary investigation shows no levels of hazardous materials of concern in both the ignited materials and samples taken near the incident site, which is where the highest concentration of any hazardous materials would typically be found.

In the unlikely event that future test results require any change to protocols and recommendations already in place regarding the cleanup of soot and ash, gardens, pets, and home drinking water wells, the public will be notified immediately.

County officials announced that the fire is out and investigations into its cause are continuing.

For more health related information contact the Columbia County Health Department at (518) 828-3358

If county residents have questions regarding individual costs associated with clean up of property they should contact TCI of NY directly. http://www.tci-pcb.com/

The Columbia County Emergency Operations Center is being deactivated at this time however calls to the EOC phone line will be answered by the Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center. We ask if you have questions of a non-emergency nature that you contact the Emergency Management Office during normal business hours on Monday.

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Hurry up and wait for TCI test results

This TCI shipping manifest, found in the electronic records of New York State, is one of many showing PCBs leaving the company’s Ghent facility (here, en route to their sister company in Alabama).

At a Thursday press conference, officials sought to reassure an anxious Columbia County public about the intense fires and explosions which leveled the warehouse of waste handler TCI. Among those reassurances: that the U.S. EPA and New York State DEC were testing the Ghent site and other areas for toxic releases such as dioxins.

The results should be back “within 24 hours,” the County’s director of emergency management said at the time. Multiple publications, for example The Berkshire Eagle, reported that these would be available before this week’s close of business: “Tests results for dioxin, a potential byproduct of the burning, are expected by Friday.” (The Eagle added that “a Massachusetts response team, whose members donned protective suits, fanned out in parts of Southern Berkshire County to test soil and air”).

But more than 24 hours have come and gone, with no new test results forthcoming.

Late Friday, the County emergency management office released the statement that “State officials have confirmed that testing for Dioxins will begin on Monday for the TCI incident.” In other words, these highly-anticipated test results of tests could not have arrived Friday, because evidently the testing has not even begun yet.

Left to wait over the weekend, citizens eager to breathe easier may also begin to wonder about Thursday’s reassuring announcement that no traces of PCBs were found. James Odato and Dayelin Roman of the Times-Union reported Friday night that a spokesman for the EPA named Mary Mears “said test results for polycholorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, should be in next week.” Elsewhere in the T-U article, Bill Black says on behalf of the County that “soot samples showed no indication of PCBs” but that DEC “will do some follow-up testing for PCBs and will expand its sampling in a 15-mile region around the fire site in Ghent.”

This may be a simple case of miscommunication, or possibly the two officials are referring to two different sets of tests. But it again leaves open the question: How were celebratory announcements made that no PCBs were detected, if these tests are ongoing? The seeming confusion may be explainable, but it the meantime it can only further any doubts in residents’ minds about whether they are getting the full story.

Whether warranted or not, adding to such public concerns is the refreshingly frank statement from a representative of the Columbia County Sheriff's Department that the County “does not have a precise accounting of the types and quantities of chemicals and substances at TCI,” and that records of storage at TCI are two years old. Nevertheless, “state health department officials do not think the dioxin testing is necessary.” This nonpartisan website, which tracks public data about facilities like TCI’s, says that “the last inspection” of their Falls Industrial Road site “took place 489 days ago.”

Meanwhile, the T-U’s County source also conveys that “state officials believe it is unnecessary to test milk and other farm produce and products in the region.”

Again, the obvious question arises: If officials are still trying to determine what chemicals and materials were onsite, how can the State make such premature assessments of the extent and necessity of testing? The T-U article concludes with the warning that “results from dioxin and dibenzofuran tests can take weeks.”

Despite these generalized reassurances of low- or no-risk, the County and State Department of Health would appear to be taking in other respects a “better safe than sorry” approach in issuing advisories for how to remove any soot and ash deposits around people’s homes, on their cars, on air conditioners, in their gardens and pools, and on pets. (The advisories conclude, again in the absence of test results, that wells and other drinking water supplies ought to be safe.)

Now, companies like TCI which handle delicate or hazardous materials are required by law to submit “manifests” of their delivery and shipping activity. After obtaining information on how to search the NYS DEC’s (well-hidden and password-protected) database of these manifests via the agency’s Deb Aldrich, and conducting an initial review, this site spoke with Bob Schick of the agency on Friday afternoon.

Mr. Schick acknowledged the same thing which my initial review noted—that the State’s electronic records of TCI manifests do not seem to include any documents since a flurry activity in late February and early March of this year. During a three-week period, these records indicate the company made or received multiple shipments of PCBs in both liquid and solid form. This could mean one of several things:

(1) Ideally, that TCI stopped shipping or accepting PCBs in March;

(2) Less ideally, that TCI stopped reporting such activities to DEC in March; or,

(3) that DEC may be behind in scanning more recent hard-copy shipping manifests submitted by TCI since March for inclusion in their online database.

Mr. Schick confirmed that DEC itself is now in the process of determining whether there are any post-March records somewhere in their possession. This site has sent DEC a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request, also pursuant to the Federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, for any and all records documenting what TCI of NY has stored or managed in Ghent during this calendar year. More to come on that.

August 3, 2012

Various updates on TCI

Photos by Karen Loeffler via ColumbiaPage and Facebook (link below)

Residents have been promised that they’ll be hearing more from official sources today about Wednesday night’s massive fire at PCB handler TCI. (6 pm update: The day has come and gone with no sign of further test results.) This site is also plowiing through a small mountain of technical documents obtained regarding the company’s materials handling, and will be reporting in greater depth on those once the picture becomes clearer.

In the meantime, here are various comments from people on the ground, culled from emails, Facebook posts, published reports and more:

Patti Matheney of Ghent CANN circulated the news that the “Town Attorney, Ted Guterman, tells us that TCI has a ‘use permit’ to operate in their current location which would allow them to re-build without further reviews from the Town Board or the Planning Board. In a statement issued from TCI executives, they said they plan to re-build.” That statement, from Brian Hemlock of TCI, can be found here as posted at Fox23 News.

On Columbia County 911’s Facebook page, Michael Masten posted that “That place is full of pcb's” and “that place is very toxic i worked there and we had to change clothin before going home im sure its even worse when its on fire whats the hold up.”

A reader emails to say: “Greetings from another local. Thank you for your coverage of this fire. I am concerned about disingenuous statements that everything is fine. ... I used to work for CT corporation and can confirm that they are just a legal services company, hired to track incorporation papers, receive legal correspondence, etc.”

ColumbiaPage has posted its summary of the event, including links to a large must-see suite of photos by Karen Loeffler.

Mark Josefsburg of Hudson, who studied Environmental Sciences at SUNY Cobleskill, posted on Facebook these questions: “Exactly what kind of exposure are we looking at? Are vegetables from our gardens tainted now? If so...is it possible to clean them? Is the soil in the immediate area going to be tainted? How about the water table? What about farm animals, orchards, field crops and wild game?”

Josefsburg added this information on dioxins and furans which are an ongoing concern, and said to be the subject of studies to be released today: “Dioxin is taken to mean the family of compounds comprising polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs). Dioxins have never been intentionally manufactured, but form as unwanted by-products in the manufacture of substances like some pesticides as well as during combustion. Dioxins are known to be highly toxic to animals and humans because they bio-accumulate in the body and can lead to malformations of the fetus, decreased reproduction and growth rates and cause impairment of the immune system among other things.”

Lastly, a longtime Ghent resident with a professional background in similar transfer station work writes:

I’ve carefully read your blog, which is really informative, watched the press conference and read every word of the TCI website. Everything on the website is geared to preparing new customers to filling out manifests on the PPM (parts per million) of PCB concentrations, providing a Chain of Custody, listing the company's methods of handling the PCB material and the oil that used to contain the PCBs once it's separated, which landfills it goes to, and etc.

PCBs are really their majority market, if you can judge by their outreach materials. I find it impossible to believe that there was only 1 small container of PCBs within the facility. One of the state representatives commented that they assumed the PCBs had been incinerated in the fire.

I think State and Federal officials are doing crowd management by their disingenuous claims that there were no PCBs in the fumes. No one mentioned the furans that come from burning plastics (all the containment of the chemicals and the covering that melted from the building's siding at a minimum). Burning gas and diesel are also carcinogens. What about heavy metals?

I don’t think Homeland Security makes an appearance, along with HazMat, and every OEM official locally, and high-up environmental state agencies, and the EPA, unless there is expected to be a significant fumes release.

I hope you are able to find the truth out about this fire and that, as citizens, we can impose a more thorough emergency management plan on this county. By law, a company like TCI, must have a 10-mile evacuation plan and community notification. Were you ever invited to a community informational meeting about TCI?

[...] I think we should have all these same officials (from the press conference) to a Town Meeting in the fall and make them be accountable to the community. I think there may be many Toxic Release Inventories in our area, and it would be good to identify them all, learn their inventories, and at least leave a record of their chemical hazards deposited with each Fire Company (most of whom are volunteers and deserve to know what they're up against when they respond to a fire).

We need to make sure the Emergency Management Committee has the number of citizen representatives it must have by law, and that these kinds of facilities come under the required agency inspections.

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Fire Alley: 2.5 years, 4 miles, 5 fires

Click the image above to enlarge it.

In the past two-and-a-half years, there have now been five devastating “structure fires” that destroyed buildings in a short four-mile corridor of State Route 9H in Ghent. This of course includes Wednesday night’s massive fire and explosion at TCI, which caused such widespread disruption and concern across Columbia, Berkshire and Rensselaer counties.

The stretch of highway, running roughly from the intersection of 9H and 66 to Falls Road, takes about four minutes to traverse at the posted speed limit.

Below is a timeline with notes detailing those five major fires, keyed to the map above:

— SITE [B] —

WHERE: Meadowgreens, 1238 Route 9H

WHEN: January 21st, 2010, about 4 am

WHAT: A total loss, this intense fire occurred during renovations, and was ruled accidental.

— SITE [D] —

WHERE: Amanda's Fireplace, 1871 Route 9H

WHEN: May 18th, 2010, about 2 am

WHAT: This fire was deemed an arson in June 2010, but with no known culprit. The company applied for and apparently received some or all of $2.5 million in then-available stimulus bonds from the County IDA as part of rebuilding and expansion, though reports indicated they also had fire insurance. Note: Published fire and rescue reports also indicate that on April 26th of this year at around 10:40 am, firefighters from West Ghent responded to a fire alarm at Amanda’s fireplace, but deemed it a false alarm.

— SITE [A] —

WHERE: Private Home, 930 Route 9H

WHEN: October 25th, 2011, about 8:30 pm

WHAT: The home of newly-married couple, Brian and Susan Mathew, was destroyed by a fire while dining at the groom's mother’s house nextdoor.

— SITE [C] —

WHERE: TCI of NY, 39 Falls Industrial Park Road off 9H

WHEN: January 25th, 2012

WHAT: A fire raged in two trailers adjoining the TCI facility, reportedly containing palettes, “dirty rags” and mineral oil. Tires nearby also ignited. An anonymous commenter using the name “swingbatter2” at the Register-Star’s website wrote: “PCBs -- highly toxic carcinogenic stuff -- sitting next to dump trailers of dirty rags and flammable tanks? Doesn't sound so environmentally safe to me. Hopefully the firefighters were not exposed to nasty fumes that could make them very sick for the long term. Will DEC follow up to make sure containment and safety practices are being followed? The potential for soil and groundwater contamination should be of major concern to all neighbors.”

— SITE [C] AGAIN —

WHERE: TCI of NY (again), 39 Falls Industrial Road

WHEN: August 1st, 2012, about 10 pm

WHAT: A massive fire and explosions burn entire facility to ground, requiring State and Federal assistance, and causing evacuations and air quality warnings across three counties.

Now, of course fires happen all the time. But most fires are not total losses. And they aren’t all grouped in within a couple of years, or within single short corridor along a busy highway. Moreover, three of the fires occurred within a few hundred yards of each other, and one of those fires was deemed an arson—though to this site’s knowledge nobody was arrested for it.

Coincidences certainly happen, and the above pattern could be just that. But one would think that some resources might be devoted at this point, following this week’s near-disaster, to determining if there is any connection.

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T-U expert: One PCB drum could be too many

At yesterday’s press conference in Greenport, County, State and Federal officials alluded to the presence of a drum of PCBs having been consumed in the intense fire at TCI of NY in Ghent. This finding was presented as a relief. However, late tonight the Albany Times-Union posted the results of its interviews with health experts, one of whom indicates that one drum would be plenty to raise serious concerns.

Former Broome County health commissioner Dr. Arnold J. Schecter, now of the University of Texas School of Public Health, points out that “furans and dioxin are more dangerous than PCBs,” and raises the questions: “Were they formed; what was the amount; and did they get into people or
food, or are they likely to get into people or food?”
Being an open-minded scientist, Schecter acknowledges the possibility that there could be either “no problem at all,” or “the other extreme,” but is paraphrased by Odato as stating that “one drum of PCBs, if it converts to dibenzofurans, would be a public health concern.”Schecter continues in the article by James Odato: "What you'll
want to know is what toxic chemicals were present; does the company
have a list and how much? Where were the toxic chemicals
likely to have spread. ... What precautions are being taken to make
sure animals and the food supply have not been contaminated.”
The entire article can be read at this link:

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Questions-remain-on-toxic-soot-3758856.php

People downwind also deserve to know whether any of the other materials, such as mineral oil, propane, et al. were contaminated with PCBs or other hazardous substances, as can be the case with fluids removed from certain types of transformers. This would increase the total volume of dangerous material that may have burned.

Check back soon for some harder information, gleaned from official sources and others, on what TCI was handling at their Ghent location.

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August 2, 2012

Notes on 1:30 pm news conference about TCI

UPDATE: A Hudson resident makes the insightful point that there have been three fires—one at Amanda’s Fireplace, and two now at TCI—within a few hundred yards of each other in the past couple of years. Makes you wonder if there is a firebug in the neighborhood.

Listening to this afternoon’s press conference by County, State and Federal officials on WGXC was frustrating, as two out of the three speakers were almost inaudible—either due to mumbling or the poor quality of the audio feed. (CBS6’s live stream was apparently much clearer.) With that caveat, here are some notes on what was said, to the extent that it could be heard:

• The fire is now “99% out” and the cause of the fire is “under investigation.”

• The alert for the 15-mile radius (or rather, 15-mile diameter) of the site has now been lifted.

• “A drum of PCBs,” said to be a “very small amount” was onsite. (A little polychlorinated biphenyl goes a long way.)

• 20,000 gallons of mineral oil, some motor oil, and some propane tanks were also onsite, contributing one supposes to the intensity of the fire. (Mineral oil? Is there an epidemic of diaper rash in the County?)

• Officials are “doing some additional testing,” but claim that no traces of PCBs were found in residues near the site.

• Testing for “other chemicals,” such as highly toxic dioxins—which, as previously reported here, PCBs can morph into when burned—is not yet complete, but is expected maybe by tomorrow.

• It was decided to were “pull out” firefighters at some point due to the intensity of the blaze and lack of certainty as to what was onsite.

• A question was asked by reporters in the audience about what agency is “supposed to be monitoring this facility,” and when it was last “checked out,” especially considering that it had a smaller fire barely six months ago. “That is under investigation,” was the answer.

• People were still working there after the January fire; it isn’t clear if anyone was working there last night.

• Officials feel satisfied that they did what they could to “notify everybody as quickly as possible,” while conceding that unlike some neighboring counties, Columbia does not have a reverse 911 system.

• The Columbia County Health Department will be issuing a guidance document on how to deal with any soot people find on their property or in their homes.

• The 15-mile radius was chosen to ensure that if there were a wind change, causing a change in the direction of the plume, people would be on alert.

• In response to a question about whether any people were called in the potentially most-impacted areas, the answer was “I would say no.”

• The County requested help from State Emergency Management, and received it asw ell frm ROTC, Dutchess, Greene and Rensselaer counties; a truck also came from an Air Force base at 9 am this morning.

• A speaker commented that after 25-30 years of fighting fires, “I have never seen explosions like on this fire.”

When PCBs burn

I’ll be typing up my notes of the County’s news conference soon, but wanted to comment for now on the seemingly reassuring word that no traces of PCBs were found in the initial tests done today—despite there being, reportedly, a barrel of PCBs onsite.

It's no secret that when hazardous materials burn, especially at very high temperatures, their composition can change significantly. As the Canadian site linked below notes, when PCBs burn, they may become aerosolized and readily inhaled, and this might happen at some distance from the fire.

Worse, “when PCBs are burned at high temperatures, the process can turn them into different substances called dioxins and furans, which are far more toxic than PCBs.”

The audio on WGXC was very difficult to hear at least 50% of the time (a kingdom for a sound engineer!) but one answer that one could kind of make out was that officials have not gotten back the results for dioxins yet—maybe tomorrow, it was said.

There is obviously a reason why companies get paid a lot of money to dispose of PCBs, and why incinerators and landfills are supposed to be closely regulated and monitored. Incinerating even small quantities of PCBs or other hazardous substances in an uncontrolled warehouse fire is not exactly recommended practice, and not something one can be easily reassured about.

Link: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/environ/pcb-bpc-eng.php

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More TCI updates

• The Federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), which was passed in 1986, requires that “Information about accidental chemical releases must be made available to the public.” More info is at: http://www.epa.gov/oem/content/epcra/

• This alert from the County comes via Patty Metheney of Ghent CANN: New York State Ags & Markets have recommend that if you have animals outside that if possible move them to cover and only use feed/hay that has been covered. If anyone needs more information please call Ag & Markets at 518-457-3502.

• Via a Hudson resident, a New York Times article on a town in Canada which was devastated by “a fire in a warehouse used to store oil contaminated with chemicals known as PCB's” back in 1998: http://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/11/world/canadians-return-to-town-evacuated-in-pcb-fire.html

• A press conference is going to be held in Hudson by County emergency management officials at their office at 1:30 pm today. Some obvious questions that might be asked:

— Is the fire now out? If not, when is it expected to be?

— Is the warning for residents within 15 miles meant to be a radius, or a diameter, of the fire site?

— What materials (hazardous, toxic, or otherwise) were stored on the site, and in what quantities?

— How many people, if any, were evacuated from the immediate vicinity?

— What steps, if any, were taken after TCI's smaller fire in January to prevent future fires?

— How did TCI, which is based in the Deep South, wind up in Columbia County? Who owns and manages it?

— Has TCI received any local, County, State or Federal assistance?

— What agencies were responsible for inspecting the site for safety?

— What emergency notification systems does Columbia County have in place for residents, most of whom were unaware of the potentially toxic event from when it began sometime after 10 pm yesterday, until around 7-8 am this morning?

— Some residents of Berkshire and Rensselaer counties report receiving reverse 911 or robocalls alerting them to the fire, and precautions to take. Did Columbia County issue any such warnings?

— Have our firefighters and other first responders been adequately protected from what might be highly toxic fumes?

— Will the County be recommending any cleanup or sanitizing measures for nearby residents?

More to come...

Plume

UPDATE: I’ve spoken with Rick Georgeson, a public information officer for the DEC, and he is going to attempt to pull any records the State might have of hazardous materials stored onsite at TCI.

UPDATE #2: The Associated Press is calling the fire “stubborn” and that “Police say the firefighters are spraying foam Thursday morning because they don't know exactly what is burning. A reader reports as of 1 pm that a dark plume is still visible from Route 66 heading north toward Chatham.

A reader in the Ghent/Stockport area just sent in the above photo of a lingering plume this morning from TCI’s fire. As previously noted, one County official has said that at its peak, this plume was two miles long.

Another reader reports an as-yet unconfirmed rumor from a Columbia Memorial Hospital worker that the National Guard was brought in to assist firefighters. Anecdotally, CMH has apparently had some walk-ins with eye and throat irritation.

The Berkshire Eagle reports on air quality warnings across the border in Massachusetts:

A Great Barrington emergency management team issued telephone calls around 5 a.m. on Thursday to residents of Egremont, Alford, Sheffield and Great Barrington about the fire in West Ghent and the possibility that their may be toxic fumes drifting their way in an air plume because of the wind patterns. As of 8:15 a.m., the alert has been expanded to Stockbridge, West Stockbridge, Richmond and Sheffield. Residents have been warned to close their windows and not use air conditioners which may filter polluted air into homes.

Meanwhile, while some Hudson officials have attempted to tamp down concerns, The Catskill Daily Mail reports that even eastern Greene County residents are advised to turn off their A/Cs and stay inside. The paper writes:

Occasional explosions were heard inside the building, including one series that resembled rolling thunder, causing some spectators to run in the opposite direction.

“There are a lot of hazardous materials here,” said Emergency Medical Services Coordinator P.J. Keeler. “That’s our concern.” Keeler was pulling a cooler that had dozens of water bottles stacked on top of it.

County Emergency Management Director William Black said the building contained big mineral oil tanks, two tractor trailers of fuel oil, fork lifts with propane tanks, and other hazardous substances. “It’s the combination when they mix we have to be concerned with,” he said. “There’s sodium in there.”

Here is a handy link if you want to follow media reports of the event on Google News.

Close your windows, central Columbia

In the wake of explosions at a hazardous/toxic waste handler’s building in an industrial park off Route 9H in West Ghent, Columbia County emergency management officials have issued this alert:

A mutual aid fire at TCI of NY, a transformer recycling company off of Route 9H on Falls Industrial Park Road in West Ghent has resulted in a State of Emergency for the immediate area being declared by Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Patrick Grattan. Multiple fire companies, rescue squads, and various county and state agencies are on scene. The area, Route 9H and surrounding roadways around TCI are closed to the public. People who reside in the area are asked to remain in their homes. If they feel they must leave their homes due to smoke a shelter has been established at the Chatham Fire House at 3 Hoffman Street Chatham, NY. If anyone requires emergency assistance please call 911. More information will be provided as it becomes available.

Columbia County 911 is circulating the above map on Facebook, urging people in the red area to turn off air conditioning units and avoid outdoor air if at all possible:

Out of an abundance of caution, it is recommended that anyone with a 15 mile radius of the incident (Route 9H/Falls Rd, Ghent) limit outdoor activity... remain indoors. State Health Department officials are conducting air quality tests in the vicinity of the fire. Out of an abundance of caution, please remain indoors and limit outside activity. Anyone experiencing eye irritation, difficulty breathing or cough should seek medical attention. For additional information, contact the Columbia County Health Department at 518-828-3358 ext. 1293.

Note that the above map has been described as depicting at “15-mile radius,” but in fact it appears to show a 15-mile diameter. Columbia County is only about 18 miles wide at the middle, from Hudson to the Berkshire line, as the crow flies. Hudson is under 7 miles from the TCI site.

On Facebook, reports are coming in that Berkshire and Rensselaer county residents got reverse 911 and/or robocalls alerting them to the event. It is not clear that similar notification occurred in Columbia County.

Photo: Matthew Perry

A half-mile radius near the facility, located off Route 9H in Ghent near the Toyota dealer and First Fuel, is reportedly being mandatorily evacuated. As noted above, a smoke recovery center has been set up at the Chatham firehouse. Fire companies from Claverack, Ghent, Stockport, Stottville, and Stuyvesant Falls responded, with requests to other units (e.g. Livingston and Niverville) going out all night.

Albany television stations reported a chemical hazard alert early this morning after neighboring Rensselaer County emergency management officials issued their own alert:

The Rensselaer County Executive has announced that due to an Emergency condition at TCI, Inc., 39 Falls Industrial Park Rd, Ghent, NY, Columbia County, all persons living or working in the Towns of Nassau, Schodack, and Stephentown, should shelter within[g], close all windows, shut off all air conditioning units, and devices that draw in outside air. Residents should be prepared to shelter within for the next 12 hours, and are advised to spend as little time, if any, in the outside environment as possible. This measure is a precautionary measure for your protection. Residents are instructed to NOT dial 9-1-1, unless you have an emergency. For further information, you may contact 266-7684 or 266-7686. As additional information becomes available, it will be provided.

YNN has a video depicting a massive plume arising from the site this morning, and an interview with Bill Black, the County’s emergency management director. Black indicates that last night the plume was about “2 miles long.” The NYS DEC and US EPA are conducting residue and air quality tests, with early results expected in “early afternoon.”

A road closure notice has also been posted, as passed along by Virginia Martin:

Issued By: NYS - DOT

Jurisdictions: Columbia County

Headline: RD CLOSURE: N/S State Hwy 9H between Rabbit Ln & CR 22 (Stockport Rd) closed at 7:20am due to a structure fire for 8 hrs - T/Hudson - Columbia Co

Description: N/S State Hwy 9H between Rabbit Ln & CR 22 (Stockport Rd) closed at 7:20am due to a structure fire for 8 hrs - T/Hudson - Columbia Co

Instructions: Use alternate route.

The waste handler, a company called TCI, had a smaller fire last January. According to the company’s website, TCI claims to provide:

environmentally safe disposal of oil filled and drained electrical equipment, <50ppm PCBs, 50-499ppm PCBs as well as >500ppm PCBs.

In addition to handling PCB wastes, the company lists the following waste items which it accepts: “transformers, regulators, padmounts, switches, breakers, bushings, capacitors, ballasts and bulbs, debris, drummed oil, PILC cable, etc.”

The site claims that its facilities “were built with the latest safeguards, such as triple-spill containment systems which include 40 ml or 60 ml high density polyethylene liners beneath the concrete floors, special chemical-proof epoxy floor coating and steel floor plating in high contact areas to assure there will be no absorption of PCBs into exposed concrete in the event of a spill.” Such measures, however, appear intended to protect against spills, not the risk of fire.

The company further notes that it “maintains eleven million dollars of pollution liability insurance to protect both TCI and it's customers.”

TCI of NY, LLC is registered with New York State as a Foreign Limited Liability Company, with a Delaware jurisdiction. Its registered agent is something called CT Corporation System, which has offices at 111 Eighth Avenue in New York City but seems to be based in Georgia. (That may just be a legal service for incorporating LLCs.)

SamPratt.com