TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A chemical tank explosion in Toledo, Ohio, forced hundreds of residents to evacuate their homes and others to stay indoors Wednesday because of fears of a toxic release and the possibility of another explosion.
Videos show a plume still escaping from the reservoir early Wednesday afternoon, more than 14 hours after the reservoir began leaking Tuesday evening.
Some residents experienced eye and throat irritation, and a sheriff’s deputy who responded to the explosion went to the hospital himself because he did not feel well, city officials said.
MC Tank Transport said the tank contained glycidyl methacrylate, which it described as “an industrial chemical used to improve the performance of certain plastics, paints and coatings.”
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said, without elaborating, that the leak was caused by an error during the transfer of the material.
The leaking tank was in a largely industrial area. Nearly 1,000 residents were asked to evacuate overnight within a 1.6-kilometer radius of the blast, Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said at a news conference Wednesday morning.
A shelter-in-place order covering a 3-mile radius included neighborhoods along the shores of Lake Erie and extended just across the state line into Michigan. City schools were closed Wednesday.
Health officials said the symptoms reported so far were primarily eye and throat irritation. Tests were underway to determine the concentration of the chemical in the air and whether it posed additional health risks.
Kristine Kowalinski, who lives just outside the affected area, said she stays indoors because she is sensitive even to smoke from wood burning outside. She said she was worried about what was happening in the air and on the ground.
“My main concern is how it affected everything overnight, as it rained on cars, on houses, on my garden,” she said.
Kapszukiewicz said the chemical is liquid inside the tank but becomes a gas when released.
“There are still concerns that the tank is emitting this chemical and that it could become explosive within 12 hours of the incident,” the mayor said, adding that it can hold 5,500 gallons of the chemical in liquid form. He said authorities did not know what caused the explosion.
People who come into contact with glycidyl methacrylate may feel as if their eyes, nose, mouth and skin are burning, the city’s fire department said. Overexposure may cause headaches, dizziness, fatigue, nausea and vomiting.
“It’s really toxic if you touch it, if you ingest it,” said Karim Baroudi, director of the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department. “Now we are trying to determine how toxic the air people are breathing is so we can give better advice.”
Baroudi advised residents to close their windows and that those who “experience eye irritation and difficulty breathing, simply take a shower for the moment.” Fire officials said those experiencing symptoms should contact a medical professional.
Emergency and hazmat teams did not approach the tank because of the risk of another explosion, Kapszukiewicz said.
Arkansas-based MC Tank Transport said in a statement that the company was working with firefighters and other emergency authorities. Company representatives were on their way to Toledo, Kapszukiewicz said.
“Our immediate and overriding concern is the safety of area residents, first responders and our employees,” the company said.
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McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed.
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