Chemical odor in area

[Michael]

Strange Chemical Smell In Parts Of NJ [VIDEO]
By: Dan Alexander | 6 minutes ago A fire at the at the Rohm and Haas plant in Bristol, Pennsylvania early Wednesday morning has caused a chemical smell in parts of New Jersey along the Delaware River.

Fire at the Rohm and Haas plant chemical plant fire in Croydon, PA. (WTXF TV)
Calls into New Jersey 101.5 indicate the odor could be smelled strongest along Route 29 in Trenton but could also be detected in parts of Hamilton.

Winds are light from the southeast bringing the smell across into the Garden State. Residents close to the plant in Pennsylvania say they did not smell the odors.







Michael Chianese of Hamilton says he first noticed the chemical smell around 8 a.m. this morning.

“It’s like an acetone, like an acidy kind of smell,” Chianese says. He says he stopped at the 7-Eleven this morning in Hamilton and customers at the store were talking about it. At first, he wasn’t sure what the smell was. “I was smelling around my car, I’m smelling around my shirt.” Chianese says, “I’m in Trenton right now, it’s here, it’s in the air and I smell it.”

Manny DeLeon from Trenton is upset that Trenton and Mercer County officials didn’t alert residents about the smell. He says, “What’s the use in having our alert system if they’re not going to warn us of things like this?”

DeLeon says the fumes had his wife coughing this morning and he’s worried about the possible health effects of the fumes. “I have to go to work, my eyes are burning, I’ve got a headache and it’s getting worse,” DeLeon says.

Lightning from overnight storms is being blamed for starting the fire which was out by 7AM. Fire fighthers from both Bucks County and New Jersey remain on scene putting out hot spots.

THE CHEMICALS CAUSING THE ODOR
Dow Chemical, which recently purchased the plant, identified the burning chemicals in a press release as ethyl acetate and butyl acetate . They’re used in making acrylic coating products, which go into paints.

““At approximately 3:35 a.m., the Rohm and Haas Bristol Plant experienced a lightning strike, which hit two storage tanks at its Bristol coatings plant. The holding tanks contain two different materials, ethyl acrylate and butyl acrylate. Onsite emergency response along with area fire companies have responded to safely put out the fire and bring the material under control. Material that escaped the tanks is contained in surround dikes with no anticipated impact to the community,” said Dow in a press release.
The Bristol,Pennsylvania Emergency Management in a statement said, “There is an incident at Dow Chemical in Croydon that is causing an unpleasant odor in surrounding areas. If you smell the odor, we recommend you close all doors and windows and limit your exposure to the odor.” Residents of nearby Levittown, PA received a similar warning via a reverse-911 call.

As a precaution, school officials in Bristol cancelled classes for the day.

Officials at the Bristol Fire Department confirmed to WTXF TV that a member of their fire police died after suffering a heart attack. Dave Wintz was taken from the scene to Aria-Torresdale Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

[FYI]

ROIC Alert: Chemical Odor in NJ

The DOW Chemical Complex in Bristol, PA was struck by lightening last night. Two storage tanks containing Ethyl Acetate and Butyl Acetate were damaged. The NJ ROIC is receiving multiple calls regarding the odor of chemicals in the air. The Bucks County PA Haz/Mat Team has advised that Ethyl Acetate was released in the amount of 0.0002 parts per million which would be non-threatening outside the immediate area of the incident. The NJ DEP and the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services are monitoring the incident. The odor is expected to dissipate over the course of the next several hours. There is no health impact upon New Jersey. The NJ ROIC will continue to monitor this event and provide updated information accordingly.