Phytotoxicology assessment survey of the July 1990 fire at a used tire storage depot near Kingsville : report

16 Pages·1992·0.31 MB·English

by  Gizyn, W. I. (William Ihor)

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PHYTOTOXICOLOGY
ASSESSMENT SURVEY
OF THE
JULY 1990 FIRE
AT A USED TIRE
STORAGE DEPOT
NEAR KINGSVILLE
MARCH 1992
Environment
Environnement
Ontario

ISBN 0-7729-9311-4
PHYTOTOXICOLOGY ASSESSMENT SURVEY
OF THE JULY 1990 HRE
AT A USED TIRE STORAGE DEPOT
NEAR KINGSVILLE
Report Prepared By:
William I. Gizyn
Phytotoxicology Section
Air Resources Branch
Ontario Ministry ofthe Environment
MARCH
1992
o
PRINTEDON
RECYCLEDPAPER
IMPRIMESUR
DUPAPIERRECYCLE
Cette publication technique
n'est disponible qu'en anglais.
Copyright: Queen's Printer forOntario, 1992
This publication may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes
with appropriate attribution.
PIBS 1897
log 91-2231-024

2
Table of Contents
1 Background 1
2 Fire Site Description 1
3 Observations and Sample Collection 1
4 Chemical Analysis Results 4
4.1 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) 4
4 . Dioxins and Furans 4
4 3 Inorganic Elements 5
.
5 Discussion 6
6 Conclusions 7

.
1 Background
On July 15, 1990 between 3:00 AM to 6:00 AM, a fire occurred
at a used tire storage yard located approximately 3.5 kilometres
west of Kingsville, Ontario. The yard was located near the inter-
section of Ontario Highway 18 and McCain Side Road; on Lot 16,
Concession 1, Gosfield South Township. The lands surrounding the
yard were agricultural fields and pastures.
On July 17, 1990, the Phytotoxicology Section received a
request from the Ministry of the Environment Windsor District
office for an investigative survey to assess possible contamina-
tion of crop plants and field soils and potential for productiv-
ity losses. It was reported that approximately 4000 tires were
involved in the fire.
2 Fire Site Description
The tire storage yard consisted of a fenced enclosure 95
metres along the east-west axis and 66 metres along the north-
south axis. Several buildings were located immediately east of
the yard and included residences and barns. The fence was
constructed of vertical wooden planks, two metres in height. The
fire was confined to the northwest corner of the yard, where the
majority of the tires were located. A highway trailer, which was
apparently loaded with tires for shipment to a recycling facil-
ity, was consumed in the fire. A section of the fence on the west
side of the yard was also consumed.
A livestock pasture was located immediately west of the
yard. A field planted with soybean was approximately 40 metres
north of the yard. There were several areas containing unmanaged
vegetation within the yard and immediately outside.
Figure 1 illustrates the relative locations of the yard,
buildings, roads and fields. This figure also identifies the
locations of foliage and soil samples taken during the investiga-
tion and discussed in this report.
3 Observations and Sample Collection
The Phytotoxicology investigation was conducted on July 17,
1990. By this date, a clean-up, consisting of removal of debris
and soil from the fire location, had begun. An examination of the
vegetation in the immediate vicinity did not reveal any injury
symptoms which could be attributed to fire emissions. Scorched
vegetation was present at the west fence line where the fence was
consumed. The only other indication, on vegetation, of a fire was
the presence of black soot-like deposits on the foliage of grass,
wild grape, hawthorn, goldenrod, as well as other species. How-
ever, these deposits were restricted to plants in the immediate
vicinity of the fire and were not noted beyond 20 metres from the
fence
Figure 1: Sampling Locations at Kingsville Tire Fire
Railway Line
,
A= SampIIng Site
Because the area around the fire site consisted of agricul-
tural fields, there was concern that contamination of crops and
soil may have occurred. Sampling was conducted to determine the
nature of the potential contaminants and their extent.
As previously noted, soot-like deposits were observed on
vegetation near the fire site. Hawthorn foliage was collected at
three locations; immediately west of the west fence (Site 1), 20
mneotrrtehsfweenscte o(fSitthee3)w.estThefseenceloc(aStiitoens2) a,reandind7imceattreedsonnorFtihguroef t1.he
. .
Two sites for collection of soybean plants and soil were
established in the field north of the yard. Both sites were five
metres from the edge of the field. One was due north of the fire
(Site 4) while the other was to the northeast (Site 5)
In addition to these samples collected in the immediate area
of the fire, two additional sites were established for the col-
lection of soybean plants. These were in a field approximately
500 metres east of the fire (Site 6) , and in a field
approximately 600 metres northeast (Site 7)
Hawthorn samples consisted of foliage removed from branches
facing the fire. Soybean material consisted of whole plants above
the soil level. It should be noted that the soybeans were only
about 15 centimetres in height. Soil samples were taken from the
top one centimetre and from the top 15 centimetres. Special pro-
tocols for collection of environmental samples destined for anal-
ysis of organic contaminants were followed. These included
solvent washing of sampling equipment between samples and using
special solvent-washed glass containers.
Table 1 summarizes the locations of samples (corresponding
to site numbers on the figure) the nature of the sample, and the
,
respective categories of chemical analyses.
Table
4 Chemical Analysis Results
All of the above described samples were submitted to various
sections of Laboratory Services Branch for analysis. The follow-
ing summarizes the results of these analyses.
4 1 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH)
.
All samples, (hawthorn, soybean and soil) were subjected
to an analysis of the PAH's listed in Table 2; The limits of
detection, in micrograms per gram (ug/g) dry weight, are also
indicated.
Table 2: Detection Limits for PAH