EHS encountered a lab in MRDC that was particularly hazardous and required remediation. EHS utilized an outside company, HEPACO, to safely address the situation. On September 28, 2019 HEPACO's Emergency Response Team started working to address the hazardous conditions in the MRDC lab.
The flammable cabinet contained a secondary container with multiple broken bottles, unlabeled or with unreadable labeling, with visible multicolor crystal growth. Labels can become illegible or come off entirely due to age or chemical contamination.
The HEPACO team was managed by their Emergency Response Manager. His highly specialized team had 6 members, fully engaged in the lab clean-up operation. The MRDC building was shut down during the HEPACO operation overnight (September 28-29th). Only HEPACO and the Georgia Tech HazMat team were at the building. GTPD was assisting both HazMat teams and ensuring that only authorized personnel were present in the building.
Peroxide-forming chemicals are a category of chemicals that have the potential to form shock-sensitive explosive crystals. When crystals have formed on chemical containers or in the chemical bottle, the bottle is extremely hazardous and can even explode just by moving the container.
All containers with exterior crystals were triple rinsed and cleaned for storage/removal. All containers found not to be secure and/or safe were cleaned and placed into secure containers. All containers were transported to the Georgia Tech EHS HazMat facility.
Crystals are clearly visible on these large containers below.
Additional lab safety issues in the lab included the sinks being full of dirty glassware and other lab equipment.
The Georgia Tech HazMat team was then able to remove the remaining waste, chemical containers, and begin chemical inventory management. Very careful testing was performed to identify all unknown chemicals. 90% of all chemicals had to be treated as hazardous waste.
HEPACO returned on October 31st to clean chemical residues on the floor, bench tops, and fume hoods. The pictures below show before and after the cleaning. The pictures on the left were taken on September 29. The pictures on the right were taken on October 31.
