Dec. 16, 2004
By MIKE MORRIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A commercial tank leaking a mixture of flammable chemicals has forced the evacuation of downtown East Point, closing area schools and roads and disrupting MARTA rail service.
About 40 streets in a 1.4-mile radius of downtown were closed after the leak was reported about 8:20 p.m. Wednesday.
East Point officials estimated thousands of people were evacuated from their homes, with some heading out in the cold to stay with family or friends and others going to temporary shelters set up by the city.
Fire officials, who are still trying to cap the leak, said this morning that no one can return until federal health officials say so. Broadcast reports that people were being allowed back into their homes were incorrect, fire officials said.
Dr. Jim Augustine, the medical director for the Atlanta Fire Department, said the leaking chemical is glacial acetic acid, "which, when mixed with water, produces vinegar."
The chemical causes no long-term health hazard, he said.
"But it is irritating to people," Augustine said. "When breathed in, it causes eye and throat and nose and lung irritation."
MARTA's East Point and Lakewood/Fort McPherson rail stations were shut down, and MARTA officials were advising customers not to use the trains to get to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport this morning.
A "bus bridge" was set up to shuttle rail passengers between the College Park station south of the affected stations and the Oakland City station on the north.
Commuters who normally take MARTA trains north from the East Point and Lakewood stations were being asked to use the West End station, where parking was available.
MARTA bus service was also being curtailed in the East Point area and Langford Parkway from I-285 to the Main Street exit is still closed, with a potential major impact on rush hour.
Classes were canceled today for schools within the evacuation zone or because nearby schools were being used as shelters. They included six Fulton County schools, 10 Atlanta schools and four private schools.
The Fulton system: Connelly Hills, H.E. Holmes and Oak Knoll elementary schools, Paul D. West Middle, Tri-Cities High and Victory Charter School.
The Atlanta system: Venetian Hills, Cascade, Kimberly, Beecher Hills and Continental Colony elementary schools, Deerwood Academy, Bunche and Young middle schools, and Therrell and Mays high schools.
Private schools: God's Little Angels Christian Academy, Romar Academy, Atlanta Christian College, and KidStop Daycare and Learning Center
Another Fulton school, College Park Elementary, was being used as an evacuation shelter. Its students attend school year-around but are on a scheduled break.
According to the American Red Cross, evacuation shelters were opened at the East Point Municipal Auditorium, Greater Rising Star Baptist Church, Mays High School, Southwest Christian Center, St. John's Episcopal Church and Venetian Hills and College Park elementary schools.
The leak was first reported by someone who called 911 while working near Empire Boulevard around 8:20 p.m.
Aerial pictures taken by a helicopter showed that a tank the size of a firetruck was leaking plumes of vapor. Fire authorities said the leak was coming from a tank owned by Brenntag Stinnes Logistics on Empire Boulevard. It contained an acetic acid whose diluted form is vinegar.
A fire engine was dispatched to the location, and two of the first responding police officers had to be taken to Grady Memorial Hospital after they complained of burning eyes. Their injuries were minor. Area fire and hazardous material crews were assisting East Point officials.
"There was a smell going on all day. It smelled like vinegar, and it hit you," said Michelle Jett, 36, who lives in a Stanton Road apartment and was evacuated to City Hall.
Officials were planning to let the leak play out and expected it would take six to eight hours to clean up the site. "This is a long drawn-out process. It's a huge operation," said East Point Fire Chief Rosemary Cloud. She said the 1.4-mile-radius evacuation zone was a standard for a leak of this type.
For people who had nowhere else to go, the city set up shelters at City Hall, Southwest Christian Church on Washington Road near I-285, and Park Lane Elementary School off Cleveland Avenue.
Davis Caskey, 57, who is disabled, was watching television when he saw that his street was listed in the evacuation notice around 10 p.m. He grabbed his oxygen tank and headed to his car and drove to City Hall. "I'm not gonna get any sleep tonight."
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/atlanta/1204/16chemleak.html