History Detail
Incident Name: Alden Leeds Inc. Warehouse

Subject: Report - Final

Incident Date: 4/10/1993

Incident Location: Kearny, New Jersey

Author: Ed Levine

Latitude: 40°43.5 ' N

Longitude: 74°07' W

USCG District: 1

Product: chlorine

Type: 5

Volume: 2 million pounds

Source:facility

RAR: rodents, population concentration areas, waterfowl, shorebirds, gulls, terns, anadromous fish, estuarine fish, boat ramps, high-use commercial shipping area

Dispersants: N

Bioremediation: N

In-Situ Burning: Yes

Special Interest Topic(s): none

Shoreline Type(s) Impacted: coastal structures, consolidated seawalls, consolidated shores, piers, riprap

Summary: On April 10, 1993, the Alden Leeds Inc. warehouse caught fire in Kearny, New Jersey. The facility is located near Newark Bay, the Possaic River, and several major highways. The on-scene weather was 47°F, eight-knot winds from the southeast, calm seas, and overcast skies. The USCG was notified of the incident at 1305 by the Kearny Police Department, who told them the warehouse reportedly contained two million pounds of chlorine. The police evacuated all areas west of the facility. The Atlantic Strike Team (AST) and a USCG boat crew went to the scene and made Level B entries into the warehouse to assess the situation.

Behavior: The water used to fight the fire mixed with the chlorine and entered the Possaic River. The AST sampled the runoff and found low levels of chlorine. Only areas near the warehouse were impacted, but the smoke-plume traveled several hundred meters downwind. The amounts spilled and recovered were not determined. Approximately 57 to 75 tons of chlorine in pellet form remained in the warehouse after the fire. The facility used a water cascade system to neutralize the remaining chlorine. The NJ epartment of Environmental Protection and Energy (DEPE) monitored the process continuously to ensure the chlorine/water mixture did not exceed three ppm.

Other Special Interest(s): Shipping lanes and vehicle traffic routes were closed; consequently, the NOAA SSC could not reach the scene.

NOAA Activities: NOAA was notified of the incident on April 10, 1993, by the USCG COTP New York. The SSC was unable to reach the scene, because of the closed traffic routes, so NOAA responded by phone and fax. NOAA discussed the health and safety hazards associated with chlorine exposure and told the MSO that chlorine is a highly toxic gas, which causes severe eye and respiratory tract irritation upon contact. Sensitive individuals (the very young and very old and people with respiratory disease) are particularly susceptible to chlorine exposure. NOAA recommended minimizing exposure of the general population and using appropriate protection measures for emergency responders. NOAA provided a plume trajectory while supporting this incident for one afternoon.

References: NOAA. 1992. The ALOHA(tm) 5.1 Manual for the Apple Macintosh and IBM Compatibles. Washington, D.C.: National Safety Council. 350 pp.