Phytotoxicology Section investigation at the site of the HCl spill on Highway 2, Brant County, April 26, 1990 : report

12 Pages·1991·0.16 MB·English

by  Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy: Standards Development Branch

I L
PHYTOTOXICOLOGY
SECTION INVESTIGATION
AT THE SITE OF
THE HCL SPILL
ON HIGHWAY BRANT COUNTY
2,
APRIL 26, 1990
FEBRUARY 1991
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Environment ^^(
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Environnement
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Ontario

ISBN 0-7729-8033-0
PHYTOTOXICOLOGY SECTION INVESTIGATION
AT THE SITE OF THE HCL SPILL
ON HIGHWAY 2, BRANT COUNTY
APRIL 26, 1990
Report prepared by:
Phytotoxicology Section
Air Resources Branch
Ontario Ministry of the Environment
FEBRUARY 1991
RECYCUBL£
Cette publication technique
n'est disponible qu'en anglais
Copyright: Queen's Printer for Ontario, 1991
Th"lis publication may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes
rith appropriate attribution
log 90-2231-125
FIBS 1439

Section 1: Background
At 1:30on the morning ofApril 26, 1990 a tankertruckofconcentrated hydrochloric acid
(37%)overturnedandburnedonHighway2approximatelyonekilometerwestoftheBrantCounty
Hamilton Wentworth Municipality border. Approximately 6000 liters ofacid were spilledfrom
thetanker. Theacidranoffintotheroad-sideditch anddownafarmlane betweentheD. Hunter
andJ.W. Hunterproperties andinto theD. Hunterpond. The spill was broughtundercontrol by
8:30am.
Gascloudsweregeneratedfromthespilledacidbetween1:30and8:30am. Theconcentration
ofHClinthegascloudwasestimatedtobebetween40to50ppmnearthetruckandfallingtoless
than 10ppm 100metersfromthetruck. Thewindsduringthisperiodwherelight(<10km/hr)and
variable from the west halfofthe compass. Fields tothe immediate east ofthe spill on both the
northandsouth sidesofHwy2werereportedtooff-gas awhitecloudduringtheday.
BythemorningofApril27, 1990theareahadlargelybeencleanedup. Thetruckhadbeen
removedandthemajorityofthesoilthathadbeencontaminatedwithacidhadbeenexcavatedand
removed.
Section 2: Methods
Mr. R.D. Jones of the Phytotoxicology Section, Air Resources Branch, Ministry of the
Environmentvisitedthe accidentsite on three occasions (April 27, May 3, and May 18, 1990) to
determinetheextentofinjurytovegetationinthearea. Novegetationorsoilsampleswerecollected
forchemical analysis. FYevious experience has shown that, in the case ofacute chloride related
fumigations,theamountofaccumulationofchlorideinvegetationisnotsignificantwhencompared
to the already large amountofnaturally occurringchloride in vegetation. In addition, there was
evidenceofsignificantroadsaltinjurytoanumberofplantsinthearea,furtheraddingtothealready
highbackgroundlevelsofchloride. In thecaseofthesoil,allsoildirectlyincontactwiththeacid
hadbeenexcavatedbythetimeofthe firstinvestigation.
Visualobservationsandasketchmapoftheareaweremadeonallthreevisitsandphotographs
oftheareaweretakenonApril27, 1990.
Section 3: Resultsand Discussion
OnthemorningofApril27,theonlyinjurytovegetationinthe vicinityoftheaccidentthat
couldbeattributedtotheHClgascloud,waslimitedtoanareaapproximately25 metersinradius
tothe south ofthe accident site (see attachedFigure). This injury consistedoftip burningtothe
top 15to30%ofgrassbladesanddandelionleaves. Theinjurywasnotfullydevelopedatthetime
andhadatypicalwatersoakedappearance. Inadditiontotheacidgasinjury,thegrassinthevicinity
ofwherethe truckcabburnedalsoshowedofheatdamage.
None ofthe deciduous trees had leafed out at the time ofthe accident, but the maple trees
wereinflower. Noinjurywasobservedonanyofthemapleflowersonthethreepropertiesinthe
immediatevicinityofthespill.
SprucetreesontheD.Hunterpropertynearthehousehadalightstippleontheuppersurface
oftheneedles. The trees were generally in poorto moderatecondition, with the conditionofthe
treesimprovingwithincreasingdistancefromtheroad.
ARB125-90-PHYrO

SketchMapoftheAreaintheImmediateVicinityoftheUCLSpillonHighway2,Brant
County,April26, 1990
Legend
i^^-Maple,Ashandother
DeciduousTrees
Gf - SpruceTrees
^^-AreaofExcavatedSoil
-AreaofInjuredGrass
Note:Thelocations,scale,numberandtypeoftrees,buildingsandroadsareapproximationsonly.
The spruce trees on theJ.W. Hunterproperty were in asimilarcondition tothe treesonthe
D.Hunterproperty. Thesetreeswereonly 10metersfromthehighwayandappearedtobesuffering
fromroadsaltstress. TheconiferousshrubsonthenorthandwestsideoftheJ.W.Hunterresidence
were showing varyingdegrees ofinjiuy. Theinjury was typically ared-tannecrosis onbothyew
andjuniper. Therewas alsosomelighttancolouredinjury tocedaronthewestsideofthehouse.
Allofthisinjury was welldevelopedandthere wasnosignofnewinjurytotheseshrubs.
Therewasnovisibleinjurytograss,treesorshrubs onthepropertyonthenorth sideofthe
highway.
•2- ARfl-125-90-PHYTO

Asthedeciduoustrees andshrubs hadnotleafedoutatthetimeoftheaccident,twofurther
visitsweremadetodetermineiftheacidgashadcausedinjurytothebudsonthetrees. Budinjury
would prevent opening, or damage the leaves when they flushed out. On the May 3rd visit the
injury to the grass anddandelions hadfully developed. Theinjury was limitedtothe top50% of
the leaves. The extent ofthe injury was greater than originally estimatedon April 27, with the
injury extendingoutto approximatelya 30meterradius. There was nonew injury symptomson
anyofthe sprucetrees orconiferous shrubs. The silverandManitobamaple treeshadleafedout
withnosigns ofinjury. Theashtrees hadnotleafedoutatthistime.
ThefmalvisitwasmadeonMay 18. Thegrassanddandelionshadcompletelygrownoutof
theinjuryobservedonthepreviousvisits. Theonlyvisibledamage tovegetationatthistimewas
tothethreeashtreesintheimmediatevicinityofthecrashsite. Theashtree,22cmDBH,located
approximately 5 meters south ofthe crash site appeared to be totally dead. The leafbuds were
blackanddesiccated. There was nosignthatthe treewas goingtoleafout. The smallashtree,6
cmDBH,locatedapproximately20meterstothewestofthecrashsitewasseverelyinjured. Only
tenpercentoftheleafbudshadopened. Therestofthebudswereblackanddesiccated. ThesmaU
ashtreeapproximately35 meterssouthofthecrash sitewas lightlyinjured,with 10to 15%ofthe
leafbudsdead,mainlyonthe sidefacingtheaccidentsite.
Section 4: Summary
TheonlypermanentinjurytovegetationfromtheHCl spillonHighway2, BrantCountyon
April26, 1990was totwoashtrees within20meters ofthe accident site. The onetree wasdead
andtheotherseverely injured. The injury to athirdash tree was notenough tocause permanent
damage. Theinjurytothelawnarea,within30metersofthesite,wastemporaryandthelawnhad
fullyrecoveredbyMay 18, 1990. Otherinjuryobservedontreesandshrubsonthethreeproperties
intheimmediatevicinityoftheaccidentwas attributedtoroadsaltfromthehighway. There was
noevidence ofmigrationofthe acid through the soil, withresultingdamage toplantroots, as all
ofthe soil thathadcomeintocontactwith theacidhadbeenexcavatedbyApril27.
3-
ARB-I25-90-FHYTO