Source: https://www.nola.com, April 22, 2019

A broken flange on a pipe is believed to be the cause of a spill of 3,600 gallons of sulfuric acid that occurred at the Cornerstone Chemical Co.facility at Waggaman on April 11, according to a state environmental official.

The spill was reported by Cornerstone to both the Coast Guard National Response Center and state officials just after midnight April 12, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Gregory Langley said Friday (April 19).

As of Monday, no report on the spill or its cleanup had been filed in DEQ’s Electronic Document Management System, an online repository for official records that have been created or received by the agency.

Cornerstone officials did not respond Monday to a request for information about the spill.

A summary of the company’s report to the National Response Center was posted on the web site of Skytruth, an environmental group that tracks chemical and oil accidents reported to the Coast Guard.

On April 3, the Jefferson Parish Council rescinded a permit it had issued 15 months earlier to allow Cornerstone Chemical to build a new, $100 million hydrogen cyanide plant on their property, after nearby residents on both sides of the Mississippi River protested the expansion plans.

Cornerstone sued the parish and council on April 8 in the 24th Judicial District Court, challenging the reversal. Judge Donnie Rowan Jr. denied a company request for a temporary restraining order, and will hear separate requests for preliminary and permanent injunctions on Tuesday.

Langley on Friday said information provided by DEQ staff to him when the accident occurred indicated the acid was released to the air, soil and to a concrete-lined drainage ditch, and that the company hired Clean Harbors, an environmental contractor, to remove or neutralize the acid at the site.

“No air monitoring was conducted,” Langley said he was told. “There were no shelter in place, evacuations or road closures during this release.”

Langley said agency staffers told him the incident was no longer considered in emergency phase, at the time they provided him with the information.

“Repairs are currently being made (to the) drainage ditch covering an estimated 500-600 feet,” that initial report said. Soda ash was being used to neutralize the acid, and a vacuum truck was used to recover liquids from the ditch.

Movement of the material was limited to only a portion of the ditch by gate valves, he said.

“After drainage ditch is pumped out, the gate valves will be opened and the ditch will be flushed with clean water until the pH (the indicator of whether liquids are acid or base) is neutral,” Langley said he was told. “Water sent through the drainage ditch is treated in the onsite water treatment plant.”

Areas where soil was contaminated were to be excavated.