TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A ruptured chemical tank billowed a white plume into the air for hours Wednesday, forcing hundreds of residents out of their homes due to the potentially toxic leak and the possibility of an explosion.
More than 50,000 people in Toledo, Ohio, were advised to stay indoors as a precaution.
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City leaders were allowing the chemical to vent instead of trying to stop the leak, saying that would be more dangerous. Videos show a plume still swirling from the tank early Wednesday afternoon, more than 14 hours after the tank began leaking Tuesday night in an industrial area.
Some residents felt irritation in their eyes and throats and sought treatment, and city officials said one sheriff's deputy who responded to the blast later drove himself to a hospital because he felt unwell.
Mark White Jr., who lives within the affected area, was sleeping with his windows open and woke to what he described as a burning plastic smell. He decided to evacuate to a shelter at an elementary school because he has asthma.
“I don’t know what this chemical can do to my lungs, long term or anything,” White said.
MC Tank Transport said the tank contained glycidyl methacrylate, which it described as “an industrial chemical used to make certain plastics, paints and coatings perform better.”
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said without elaborating that the leak happened because of an error while the material was being transferred.
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said Wednesday afternoon there was no reason to panic and that the city was working with state and federal environmental officials.
He said they decided to allow the tank to continue releasing the chemical because there was little threat to the public and that it would be more dangerous to ask first responders to go near the chemical trucking company's facility where more tanks were stored.
“There's no question the situation is improving,” said Kapszukiewicz, who added that drones monitoring the leaking tank show its temperature is dropping and that the plume is diminishing.
Still, it could take hours before the tank is safe to approach, he said.
Nearly 1,000 residents were told to evacuate overnight within a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) radius of the leak.
A shelter-in-place order for more than 50,000 people covering a 3-mile (4.8-kilometer) radius included neighborhoods along the Lake Erie shoreline and stretched just across the state line into Michigan. Schools across the city were closed Wednesday, and automaker Stellantis shut down production at its nearby Jeep assembly plant.
Health officials said the symptoms reported so far were primarily eye and throat irritation. Testing was ongoing to determine the chemical’s concentration in the air and whether it posed additional health risks.
ProMedica, which operates hospitals and urgent care centers in the Toledo area, said it evaluated about 30 people who reported symptoms that might have been related to the leak. Most were treated and released, the health care provider said.
Residents well beyond the shelter-in-place zone described smelling paint or burning chemicals. City officials tried to assure them that the odors did not indicate there was anything harmful in the air.
Kristine Kowalinski, who lives just outside the affected area, said she was staying inside because she’s sensitive even to smoke from wood burning. She said she’s worried about what’s in the air and on the ground.
“My main concern is how did that affect everything overnight when it was raining down on cars, houses, my garden,” she said.
Kapszukiewicz said the chemical is liquid inside the tank but becomes a gas when released. Officials began worrying early on that the tank, which can hold 5,500 gallons of the chemical, could explode, he said.
People who come into contact with glycidyl methacrylate may feel as if their eyes, nose, mouth and skin are burning, the city fire department said. Overexposure can cause headaches, dizziness, tiredness, nausea and vomiting.
“It’s really toxic if you touch it, if you ingest it,” said Karim Baroudi, director of the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department. “Now we’re trying to kind of determine how much of a toxicity is in the air that the people are breathing so we can give better guidance.”
Baroudi advised residents to close their windows and that those who “feel irritation in the eyes, heavily breathing, just take a shower for now.” The fire department said those who experience symptoms should contact a medical professional.
Emergency and hazardous material crews were not approaching the tank because of the risk of an explosion, Kapszukiewicz said.
Arkansas-based MC Tank Transport said in a statement the company is working with the fire department and other emergency authorities. Company representatives were on their way to Toledo, Kapszukiewicz said.
“Our immediate and overriding concern is the safety of area residents, emergency responders and our employees,” the company said.
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McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press journalists Beatrice Dupuy in New York and Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed.
