Two workers were exposed to a toxic liquid during the cleanup efforts surrounding the Tempe, AZ derailment. The Tempe Fire Department Assistant Chief, Andrea Glass, said the workers were offloading cyclohexanone from one of the tanker cars. While disconnecting the hose from the car one of the men was splashed in the face with the chemical. He was rushed to a local hospital with serious injuries. The other man was splashed in the chest and received medical care on scene.
Glass stated “We’re not sure if it was due to increased heat we have here with Arizona temperatures. Maybe over-pressurization, or what it might be, but during that untwisting of the cap and releasing is when the fluid splashed onto the face….We did do a very thorough flushing of his eyes prior to transporting. He was able to see, he was talking.”
Experts thoroughly inspected the area after the incident and determined only about 10 gallons of cyclohexanone was released. It was determined that the area was safe and according to Glass “Levels were confirmed to be well-below the eight-hour exposure limits.”
Tempe Mayor, Corey Woods, signed an emergency declaration on Friday. This will free up funding for the cleanup and repair efforts.
2 workers exposed to toxic chemical at Tempe derailment, local emergency declared
