Friday, February 20, 1998
Boelter chemical accident produces desired reaction
CHEMICALS: Mishap proves HazMat, precautions can easily handle
cleanups
By Mason Stockstill
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
A chemical spill Thursday morning caused Boelter Hall to be
evacuated while UCLA Hazardous Materials (HazMat) cleanup squads
secured the area.
Four one-gallon containers of ammonium hydroxide broke open when
the shelving unit that they were stored on apparently
collapsed.
"This is more than just a minor spill," said Michael Ceser,
manager of education and training programs in the office of
environmental health and safety.
Ceser considered the cleanup of the spill "a success" because
numerous safety precautions prevented any casualties.
"The lab took all the necessary precautions, and everything went
like clockwork," he said.
The cause of the spill has yet to be determined, but apparently
the shelving unit that the bottles were stored on collapsed when an
employee was putting away some other chemicals.
"The chemicals were properly stored, but the storage unit gave
way, which caused the spill," Ceser said.
After the initial entry team had cleaned up the spill, they
discovered that an acid spill may have also occurred.
The team then re-entered the building in different protective
suits, because of differing levels of exposure to the chemicals.
Apparently, they didn’t find another spill.
The cleanup teams use meters to measure the amount of gases in
the air, so that they will know when the caustic gases have dropped
to an acceptable level.
Ceser said that there were no casualties reported as a result of
the spill.
"Everything is potentially dangerous," he said, "but at this
exposure level, there is no risk of death."
The building was evacuated after the protection devices in the
building detected the chemical in the air and set off the
alarms.
Ioannis Kanellakopoulos, an associate professor of electrical
engineering, left the building after the alarm went off.
"There are sirens, strobe lights and a PA saying, ‘Please
evacuate the building,’" he said.
According to Ceser, the system detected the gas in the air,
triggered the alarms, shut off other automated processes that use
caustic gases, and notified the fire department of the
situation.
"The protection devices worked perfectly," Ceser said.
There was also a computerized command center, located in an area
adjacent to Boelter, from which HazMat team members could safely
observe what was going on inside the building on closed-circuit
televisions.
"That process is also automated, and it went perfectly as well,"
Ceser said.
The Nano lab, where the spill occurred, is home to research and
education in the areas of microfabrication, micromachining and
integrated circuit fabrication.
The lab’s ventilation system is independent of the rest of the
building, so any gases released by the spill did not circulate
throughout the rest of the building.
In addition, the chemicals stored in the lab had been segregated
by compatibility, meaning that the chemicals that would react
violently when mixed were stored separate from each other. In the
event of an accident, there would be less chance of a reaction.
Ceser said that this incident serves to show the UCLA community
that proper safety procedures can pay off in the event of an
accident.
"When you go that extra mile, things come out a lot better," he
said.