 |
|
|
UER Store
|
|
order your copy of Access All Areas today!
|
|
|
|
Activity
|
|
720 online
Server Time:
2024-05-12 18:13:52
|
|
|
 KingCrouton
 
Gender: Male
 |  | Toxic Sites
< on 1/4/2010 8:21 PM >
|  | | | A location that I am interested in was recently cleaned by the state EPA. The site was cleaned due to "corrosive/caustics, heavy metals, petroleum-based solvents and products from railcars, including animal fat".
The remedial action taken: "involved installation of a secure fence around the property; filling and capping subsurface building foundations and process units; removal and off-site disposal of contaminated soil, residual waste from
sumps and piping, and a waste cell that was the principal subsurface containment
basin for tank and railcar clean-out residue; and installation of a nine-acre soil cap consisting of 1 to 1.5 feet of compacted soil and a vegetative cover."
That being said, the site should be clean enough without having to wear a full body haz-mat suit, correct?
[last edit 1/4/2010 8:22 PM by KingCrouton - edited 1 times]
|
|
trent
     
I'm Trent! Get Bent!
Location: Drainwhale hunting
Gender: Male
Not on UER anymore.
| |  | Re: Toxic Sites
<Reply # 1 on 1/4/2010 8:26 PM >
| | | | Posted by KingCrouton
A location that I am interested in was recently cleaned by the state EPA. The site was cleaned due to "corrosive/caustics, heavy metals, petroleum-based solvents and products from railcars, including animal fat".
The remedial action taken: "involved installation of a secure fence around the property; filling and capping subsurface building foundations and process units; removal and off-site disposal of contaminated soil, residual waste from
sumps and piping, and a waste cell that was the principal subsurface containment
basin for tank and railcar clean-out residue; and installation of a nine-acre soil cap consisting of 1 to 1.5 feet of compacted soil and a vegetative cover."
That being said, the sight should be clean enough without having to wear a full body haz-mat suit, correct?
|
I don't know too much about hazardous wastesites, but that one thing which my employer supervises so I know small bit. For you to post that much information about it, it does sounds like the majority of the hazardous materials have been abated from the site. They're never 100% clean though. It sounds like as long as you're not purposely stirring up dusts/dirt/etc there you should be fine. From what I've seen when the state puts some money into these cleanups, they give it a good go. I wouldn't want to live there, but a 2-hour urbex trip in my (non-knowledgeable) opinion should be okay.
He who rules the underground, rules the city above.
|
|
Avius
Location: Washington DC / NOVA
Gender: Male
Wow you guys!
| | | Re: Toxic Sites
<Reply # 2 on 1/4/2010 8:58 PM >
| | | | That cleanup sounds so extensive, I'm surprised there's anything left to explore.
You might want to use a respirator, and wash all your clothes when you get home, but it sounds like they've probably gotten rid of most of the dangerous stuff.
In places forgotten, tread where you will. -=- http://www.flickr.com/photos/avius/ |
|
mello
Location: Port Colborne
Gender: Female
tastes like chicken.
| | | Re: Toxic Sites
<Reply # 3 on 1/4/2010 9:04 PM >
| | | | I would be very cautious, especially since you said it was just recently cleaned up. At the bare minimum, I would wear a respirator with p100 filters to protect against the organics (petroleum based solvents), and the heavy metals. Depending what kind of heavy metals are present, you would have to be sure to get the right filters (e.g there are specific filters for Mercury fumes).
Simply walking through this site will cause particulates to be stirred up, no matter how careful you are. You might not be aware of it, but they will stick to your clothing, hair, skin, etc. Maybe even wear different shoes once you're there so that you are not bringing anything back into your car with you. I would also be cautious of particulates getting into your eyes.
As for the caustics, just be very careful with what you are touching, and wear non-cotton gloves. There could be solid/powder and liquids that may have been spilled and forgotten about during the clean-up.
What kind of site was this?? Some of this may seem a bit over-board, but if you're not very familiar with chemical substances or what exactly was in this facility, then it's better to be more cautious.
[last edit 1/4/2010 9:10 PM by mello - edited 1 times]
when you are here, you wish you were there. but once you're there, it soon becomes a here, and you again wish to be there instead of here...
we will never be completely satisfied. |
|
KingCrouton
Gender: Male
| | Re: Toxic Sites
<Reply # 4 on 1/4/2010 9:21 PM >
| | | | Originally, the compound was a distillery, and was bought by a rail car cleaning/refurbishment company in the `70's. It sits out in the country and has been abandoned for the past two decades. The State took control of cleanup a few years ago and finished in 2007. It is still unoccupied, and taxes have not been paid in over a decade.
I spoke with the company that was contracted with the cleanup. Out of the 28 acres that the site sits on, only about 400 yards were deemed by the State EPA as needing cleaning. They only tore down one building that was used for sand blasting.
The county in KY that it is located is trying to "give away" the property, as it is currently an "eyesore" and sits outside of a town with a population of about 150 +/-.
I'll post some pics later this week.
[last edit 1/4/2010 9:22 PM by KingCrouton - edited 1 times]
|
|
mello
Location: Port Colborne
Gender: Female
tastes like chicken.
| | | Re: Toxic Sites
<Reply # 5 on 1/4/2010 9:33 PM >
| | | | I was envisioning something a bit more exciting based your description of what they had cleaned up from there... Have fun though 
when you are here, you wish you were there. but once you're there, it soon becomes a here, and you again wish to be there instead of here...
we will never be completely satisfied. |
|
KingCrouton
Gender: Male
| | Re: Toxic Sites
<Reply # 6 on 1/4/2010 9:36 PM >
| | | | Posted by le_button_m
I was envisioning something a bit more exciting based your description of what they had cleaned up from there... Have fun though
|
I will!
|
|
consecrated
Location: Connecticut
Gender: Male
Æthereal
| | | Re: Toxic Sites
<Reply # 8 on 1/5/2010 11:53 AM >
| | | | Posted by junkyard
If people used to work there.........
|
Years ago, people were employed to clean up asbestos without protection "before it was [known to be] dangerous" too. Oh, and coal mining without proper breathing protection, "mopping up the fallout" at Bikini Atol, etc. I wouldn't use the fact that people used to work there as a guideline unless you are looking for company when nursing your melting skin and acute balding.
|
|
Mr_Fiend
Location: Tulsa, OK
Gender: Male
Infiltration Expert...
| | | Re: Toxic Sites
<Reply # 9 on 1/5/2010 2:08 PM >
| | | | Word to the wise, the EPA blows things WAY out of proportion when it comes to some place that "needs" clean up. Thats all you need to know about the EPA, I wont go into the millions of reasons I despise the EPA (one obvious reason is they tear shit down faster than loggers in a rain forest). You could roll around naked in high PH soil soaked in crude oil and the WORST thing you would get would be chemical burns (a severe red rash). And thats if you roll around in it naked, walking around on it wont hurt a thing. I worked in an oil refinery for several years, I know all about this stuff. Safety and health hazards were a big concert, yet it was still safe to walk through "contaminated soil" and random chemicals all over the ground and in the air, not to mention exposure to H2S (not extremely high amounts of course).
As long as you dont ingest anything toxic (you would have to do this deliberately to get sick or hurt yourself) and stay out of toxic fumes (wouldnt be anything like that at an EPA superfund site), you'll be just fine. I wouldnt even bother with a face mask if the EPA has already been there. Your only gonna get side effects from residual chemicals and particulates after long term exposure, like if you worked around the stuff, not if you take a short visit around it.
Use common sense, if you see a puddle of sludge, dont stick your face in it, if you smell gas or fumes, leave. If you find pigeon shit, dont eat it, if you find mold dont lick it. Follow these steps and you'll live. Oh, and
asbestos is only harmful if its stirred up, becomes airborn and then inhaled, but you should always wear a mask around that stuff regardless.
If the EPA is done there, its more than safe to explore, probably was in the first place.
[last edit 1/5/2010 2:10 PM by Mr_Fiend - edited 1 times]
https://abandonedo...bout/the-aok-team/ |
|
ahhntzville
Location: Boston
| | Re: Toxic Sites
<Reply # 10 on 1/5/2010 4:21 PM >
| | | | Posted by le_button_m
At the bare minimum, I would wear a respirator with p100 filters to protect against the organics (petroleum based solvents), and the heavy metals.
|
FYI, P100 filters protect against particulates only, not against organic vapors.
That said, I don't think a respirator is warranted from the way this place is described. I'd make sure not to track any mud into my car, maybe clean my shoes in a puddle, but otherwise it doesn't sound like there's much to worry about.
|
|
bonnie&clyde
Location: 510 & 415
Cleverly disguised as responsible adults
| | Re: Toxic Sites
<Reply # 11 on 1/5/2010 4:41 PM >
| | | | I think as long as you don't eat the dirt or roll in it naked you should be fine.
The question is not when are we gonna stop, It's who's gonna stop us?
|
|
KingCrouton
Gender: Male
| | Re: Toxic Sites
<Reply # 12 on 1/5/2010 5:49 PM >
| | | | Posted by bonnie&clyde
I think as long as you don't eat the dirt or roll in it naked you should be fine.
|
That knocks out two things I had planned on doing.
|
|
junkyard
Location: LaCrosse, WI
Gender: Male
Strategic Beer Command where the metal hits the meat.
| | | Re: Toxic Sites
<Reply # 13 on 1/5/2010 6:34 PM >
| | | | No shit when the EPA calls something a superfund site, it sounds like it is the radioactive swamp of comic book legends. Yes some are that bad. Look at Love Canal, people used to live there. People still work at the Chernobyl reactor. To be a superfund site doesn't take quite what most people think it does. Heavy metals in the ground will do it. Lead, Cadmium, Arsenic, and they don't have to be in that high of levels. The danger is the long term groundwater contamination. People living there for years can and do develop problems. But I don't eat the dirt. There are so many sites that are 'contaminated' that you could live on for your entire life with no problems, if you don't plant a garden and eat it or drink the well water. Almost all military and industrial sites are contaminated by such things as hydrocarbons. Your yard may be too. Ever have a car that leaked a bit of oil? If you're going to spout off about something, at least make it look like you know something. Your grasp of ionizing radiation is very comic book. I can't think of one site I've been to where any of this was a real danger. Exposure rate and time still do come into the equasion.
I drink gasoline for breakfeast and beer for dinner!
Any problem can be licked with a case of beer and a few sticks of dynamite.
Strategic Beer Command ruling the desert since 1995 http://www.strategic-beer-command.com |
|
mello
Location: Port Colborne
Gender: Female
tastes like chicken.
| | | Re: Toxic Sites
<Reply # 14 on 1/5/2010 6:49 PM >
| | | | Posted by arntzville
FYI, P100 filters protect against particulates only, not against organic vapors.
That said, I don't think a respirator is warranted from the way this place is described. I'd make sure not to track any mud into my car, maybe clean my shoes in a puddle, but otherwise it doesn't sound like there's much to worry about.
|
3M 2097 P100 Particulate - Organic Vapor Filter is just one of a few...
My response was based on having no knowledge whatsoever of what this place was. I work in a hazardous waste facility, and we take more precautions than what I stated - even when dealing with very minute amounts of certain chemicals. People have still gotten burned, become instantly ill from unknown vapors, and have had heavy metal poisoning (after working there for 1 year, and only being exposed to mercury twice - and he was wearing a proper mercury respirator).
Based on all that, I believe my response was warranted. Had I known that this was simply a distillery, I would not have bothered with such safety oriented reply!
when you are here, you wish you were there. but once you're there, it soon becomes a here, and you again wish to be there instead of here...
we will never be completely satisfied. |
|
Emma Peel
Location: Ahowah
Gender: Female
Ghosting you like you've never been ghosted before.
| | Re: Toxic Sites
<Reply # 15 on 1/5/2010 8:16 PM >
| | | | I would try and find out what chemicals are said to be there, and then check with HazMat to see potential problems (side effects of getting certain things on your skin, in your eyes, lungs, etc.) and what precautions they require people to take.
Some chemicals have their own CHAPTERS in the HazMat book and are super nasty. Many superfund sites in NJ, at least, are too ridden with these chemicals for it to be safe to go in without proper protection.
You might navigate through the electronic Code of Federal Regulations better, but as of last July, there were some typos... I don't think that most of the typos will be of any concern to you, though. They're mostly numerical.
Sorry, I probably forgot my <sarcasm> tags. |
|
AggiePhil
Location: College Station, TX
Gender: Male
Texas Aggie
| |  | | Re: Toxic Sites
<Reply # 16 on 1/5/2010 9:10 PM >
| | | | Call the local fire department once you get there and tell them that you're trying to explore the place but that you have hazmat concerns. Their hazmat unit can then evaluate it for you. 
|
|
ahhntzville
Location: Boston
| | Re: Toxic Sites
<Reply # 17 on 1/6/2010 1:28 AM >
| | | | Posted by le_button_m
3M 2097 P100 Particulate - Organic Vapor Filter is just one of a few...
|
That is what's known as a "piggyback" filter, with both a particle filtration (P100) filter and an organic vapor filter housed in the same inline arrangement. Regardless, the P100 component is useless against organic vapors.
|
|
bonnie&clyde
Location: 510 & 415
Cleverly disguised as responsible adults
| | Re: Toxic Sites
<Reply # 18 on 1/6/2010 3:17 AM >
| | | | Posted by KingCrouton
That knocks out two things I had planned on doing.
|
That was why I threw that out there. I had a psychic vision of you all greased up & polishing your spoon for that 1st bite.
The question is not when are we gonna stop, It's who's gonna stop us?
|
|
junkyard
Location: LaCrosse, WI
Gender: Male
Strategic Beer Command where the metal hits the meat.
| | | Re: Toxic Sites
<Reply # 19 on 1/6/2010 6:19 AM >
| | | | That makes sense. Call the cops too, to save the local FD the call. They LOVE to deal with that shit. Do your OWN research and do what YOU think is right. It's always served me well.
I drink gasoline for breakfeast and beer for dinner!
Any problem can be licked with a case of beer and a few sticks of dynamite.
Strategic Beer Command ruling the desert since 1995 http://www.strategic-beer-command.com |
|
|
|
All content and images copyright © 2002-2024 UER.CA and respective creators. Graphical Design by Crossfire.
To contact webmaster, or click to email with problems or other questions about this site:
UER CONTACT
View Terms of Service |
View Privacy Policy |
Server colocation provided by Beanfield
This page was generated for you in 140 milliseconds. Since June 23, 2002, a total of 741483603 pages have been generated.
|
|
