HAZMAT Incident in Terlingua

[SHANEA]

Dumping of  sodium cyanide on south county rd
Posted by: "terlingua_newz" terlingua_newz@yahoo.com   terlingua_newz
Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:22 pm (PDT)
Residents on South County Rd. along with people living in Ghostown,
and those on 170 such as the Terlingua Store were all evacuated since
this morning about 9 am, when it was reported tat some idiot dumped
the toxic substance - sodium cyanide along South County Rd. I'll
post more when someone fills me in on who done it. Some people are
pretty mad. Aparantly the substance has been cleaned up, and the
identity of the person who dumped it is known.

[Undertaker]

Hope it was illegal dumping and not terror or you can kiss the border ever reopening good-by. In either case put this individual in jail.

[SHANEA]

Answers= A poisonous white crystalline compound, NaCN, used in extracting gold and silver from ores and in dye manufacture.

[SHANEA]

Shane:
   DAMMIT! Tell people to quit spreading stupid rumors!
   I know it's NOT "domestic terrorism."
   It's sheer stupidity.
   The county emergency management coordinator related the facts thusly:
    A man who, long ago, had one single "rock" of sodium cyanide, placed
it in a glass jar and buried it. Erosion recently exposed the jar and
somehow the lid was loose or came off. Same man started to either
remove the rock or try to contain it again and got burned on the arm.
(When this form of cyanide gets wet, toxic vapors form; rock had
gotten wet, vapors burned him.)
   To "err" on the side of caution, sheriff's dept. wasn't sure whether
the toxic substance was widespread or contained to one small area so to
ensure public safety, they evacuated the area. They remained there
overnight until HAZMAT team could arrive and contain the substance in a
safety container. A company from Midland is to take the cyanide for
disposal.
   NO TERRORISM!
   NO HARM DONE EXCEPT TO ONE DUMB MAN!
   STOP THE G-DAMN RUMORS AND TELL YOUR TERLINGUA FRIENDS TO DO SAME!
THANKS...
Cindy Perry of the Alpine Avalanche, who believes in checking with
AUTHORITIES before screaming, "The sky is falling!"
PS--I do love to get your e-mails. I'm not yelling at you, I'm yelling
at these nuts who think there's a terrorist behind every ocotillo.

[rgibson]

The "known man" is not a known local.  Several folks talked with him while he was probably having effects, before the Deputy became involved.  My guess is he may have been an absentee owner since the Avalanche said he is a Terlingua man.

The location was 5 miles or so north of 170.

[SHANEA]

Calmate . . .

Cyanide found near Terlingua causes only one minor injury
By Cindy Perry / cindyperry@alpineavalanche.com

A Terlingua man was burned slightly on his arm Tuesday evening when he touched a cyanide “rock” that he had once buried on his property, according to Tom Santry, county emergency management coordinator.

Brewster County Sheriff Ronny Dodson said Wednesday that the man’s slight injury was the only one. He said the material had been safely contained by a HAZMAT (hazardous materials) crew and transported out of Terlingua.

Dodson praised the one Alpine and two Terlingua firefighters who answered the call to property about 4 miles north of Terlingua Ghost Town.

Rumors had been flying around the Big Bend that there was a chemical spill and that many animals had died. That certainly was not the case, Santry emphasized.

“The man had this cyanide formed into a rock — manmade, not organic — and had put it in a glass jar and buried it,” Santry said. “Over the years, erosion and weather exposed the jar. If you put water on it, vapors form; it had rained recently, and the cyanide burned the man.”

The Sheriff’s Department was called Tuesday evening, and deputies remained at the scene to keep people away from the cyanide. An estimated 70 people were evacuated from their homes near the incident site until it could be determined that they were not in danger.

The HAZMAT (hazardous materials) team was on the scene Wednesday and was scheduled to place the cyanide rock into a safe container. Santry said a company from Midland would be contacted to dispose of the cyanide.

Santry assured the public that no one was in danger.

Cyanide once was used in baits to kill coyotes, and has mining and industrial uses as well.

[rgibson]

BBG research shows the man was not a local.  He is from Alpine.  He also has a 15k bill from the county for the expenses of the clean-up etc.

[whickums]

So that's what it was!  I tried to get to the cemetery that day while they had the whole town closed off.  The sherrif told us it was a chemical spill, then the locals went on a tirade about how it was a homeland security drill and they were wasting taxpayer's money.