Within three hours of each other, emergency members responded to two chemical spills Thursday evening in the engineering area on campus.
A student was transported to University Medical Center Brackenridge with minor injuries after dropping a container at a chemical lab in Robert L. Moore Hall at about 5 p.m. A second spill at about 8 p.m. at the SW7 psychology and natural sciences lab building was cleaned up without any injuries.
Emergency Health and Safety officials, in cooperation with Austin Fire Department and UT Police Department members, responded to the incidents within two blocks of each other.
“[A student] put something in a container,” said AFD Division Chief Dawn M. Clopton, about the first incident in RLM. “It was capped and it caused the container to break, so he was [injured] with chemical [burns] and glass cuts.”
She said the container that exploded caused a domino effect, impacting other bottles under the fume hood. Two gallons of an acidic liquid were spilled, but Clopton said the substance was “not anything bad.”
AFD responded with about 35 members that turned the scene over to Environmental Health and Safety officials and UTPD members, she said.
AFD had little time to pack up and head home, because shortly before 8 p.m. a second chemical spill occurred at the SW7 psychology and natural sciences lab building.
“It was a release of a gas that is flammable and caustic,” Clopton said. “[Building clearance] depends on the concentration of the gases in there and what the gases turn out to be.”
Clopton said a diffusing bag with an ampule holding a gas was dropped by a “person” working with it. She said no one was injured and that it may be resolved within an hour or longer.
UT spokeswoman Rhonda Weldon identified the gas as ethylene oxide.
UTPD Sgt. Wayne Coffey was on scene of the second incident and said UTPD’s strategy was to setup a perimeter, prohibiting any pedestrians or vehicles from entering the scene and to set up a command post.
“We are not exactly sure [what happened],” Coffey said. “Something to do with some janitors, some type of chemical spill.”
Two janitors who may have been involved were being held aside to check for contamination Thursday night, he said. Environmental Health and Safety scanned the area for contamination and cleared the building once it was determined to be safe. The RLM has also been given clearance.
Two chemical spills on campus Thursday evening
Published: Thursday, September 24, 2009
Updated: Friday, September 25, 2009
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