HAZELWOOD 鈥 A hazardous chemical spilled from a tanker truck onto a parking lot outside a Boeing plant Friday morning but only a small amount 鈥 if any 鈥 made its way into nearby Coldwater Creek, officials said.
Cody Strawman, on-scene coordinator for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, said an estimated 500 gallons of the chemical 鈥 nitric acid 鈥 got out of the tanker before firefighters stopped the release.
He said results of water quality testing a half mile downstream in the creek later Friday were 鈥渁ll within normal range.鈥 Moreover, he said, there were 鈥渘o dead fish, no dead vegetation.鈥
Nitric acid is commonly used in an array of industrial processes and products as well as in cleaning agents. If touched or inhaled, it can burn skin and cause respiratory distress. In high concentrations, it could kill humans. A serious spill in a creek would kill fish and vegetation.
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Coldwater is the same creek that鈥檚 been in the news because of radioactive contamination stemming from the processing of uranium ore for the development of atomic weapons in the 1940s and 1950s.
The spill happened about 9 a.m. outside the former GKN Aerospace plant, now owned by Boeing Co., in the 100 block of James S. McDonnell Boulevard.
Strawman said the tanker was transferring a product from a tank at the Boeing facility when the spill took place.
He said workers noticed an orange fume coming from a valve and the acid started spewing out. They then called 911, he said. He said the transfer was part of normal maintenance at the facility.
Boeing said a building was evacuated as a precaution and there were no injuries. A short stretch of McDonnell east of Lindbergh Boulevard was temporarily shut down.
Hazelwood fire Chief Dan Luley said firefighters in heavy protective clothing spread dirt on the lot to block the spread of the chemical.
Initially, state officials said as much as 2,800 gallons got into the creek. But by late Friday afternoon, Strawman, the state official, said 鈥渧ery little鈥 of the chemical got into a tributary leading from the lot to the creek.
The state said it reached the tributary via a storm drain from the lot.
Strawman said it wasn鈥檛 clear if the chemical got into the creek itself. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure some got into the creek,鈥 he speculated.
There have been at least two other documented nitric acid spills in the U.S. this year. In March, 3,500 gallons of nitric acid were spilled into a retention basin in Phoenix. In April, when 6,500 gallons of nitric acid spilled at an Army ammunition plant in Virginia, one person was hospitalized and the spill did not reach waterways.
Many types of plants and organisms have a deadly sensitivity to acidity changes in the water. Even if a species of fish or animal can tolerate acidic water, the animals or plants it eats might not be able to.
Luther Aadland, a retired river scientist from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said a fish kill could occur in some situations in which nitric acid gets into a stream.
鈥淚t would depend on how much went into the creek and over what length of time as well as how much flow there was in the river,鈥 he said.
Boeing has been cited by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for releasing contaminants into Coldwater Creek before.
In June 2023, Boeing鈥檚 Industrial wastewater treatment plant, just up the street from GKN, released high levels of hexavalent chromium, a cancer-causing chemical, in Coldwater Creek.
Later that year, the company violated the EPA鈥檚 Clean Water Act when it discharged levels of chlorine that were 16,000% higher than permitted, also into Coldwater Creek. Chlorine and the biproducts it forms are harmful to lifeforms in the river including bacteria, fish, and plants.
On Friday, officials said a contractor would degrease and pressure-wash the GKN parking lot and flush storm sewer drains.
State officials said there鈥檚 no way to really clean up any nitric acid that might be in the creek because it breaks down in water.
Brian Quinn, a Department of Natural Resources spokesman said people should stay away from the creek for several days so the chemical can continue breaking down and diluting.
Strawman said further testing of water samples will be carried out at a state laboratory in Jefferson City.
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