Leaking Sulfuric Acid Sends 3,200 to Hospitals

A huge white cloud of sulfuric acid spewed from a ruptured railroad car Monday, engulfing thousands of homes in Contra Costa County and sending more than 3,200 people to hospitals with such symptoms as burning eyes and breathing problems, authorities said.

The stinging, smelly chemical poured out of the rail car for more than three hours, creating a cloud 1,000 feet high and up to eight miles wide, before rail yard workers were able to cap the leak.

The thick chemical fog rolled east and north, growing larger as it moved through densely populated neighborhoods and industrial sections of Richmond, San Pablo, El Sobrante and Pinole before dissipating over San Pablo Bay.

“The cloud was so thick you could hardly see,” said Orlean Pitri, who lives near the General Chemical Corp. rail yard where the leak occurred. “By the time I closed the windows, the whole house smelled like rotten eggs. It smelled terrible.”

As much as 70 tons of oleum--a highly concentrated form of sulfuric acid used in manufacturing soap, among other products--escaped from the General Chemical Corp. tank car when the disc in a safety valve ruptured.

Only a small amount of oleum is stored in Orange County, according to Becky Schade, a county fire safety specialist. About 100 pounds of the chemical is stored at a Yorba Linda distributor of laboratory and industrial equipment, according to Schade, an official with the county’s Hazardous Disclosure Office, who declined to name the company.

There are several major rail lines that carry hazardous materials through Orange County, but there was no way to determine Monday whether oleum is among the substances hauled, said Mike Furtney, a spokesman for Southern Pacific Railroad.

“I would imagine that every railroad in the country carries it,” said a spokesman for another line, who asked not to be identified. “We all haul a lot of chemicals.”

The Northern California spill temporarily shut down Interstate 80, commuter trains, bus service and mail delivery in the Richmond area, across the bay from San Francisco.

Paramedics set up a first aid station at a firehouse, hosed down victims in the parking lot and gave them hospital gowns to wear before busing them to hospitals for further treatment.

Local hospitals were inundated with people who came by ambulance or on their own with complaints of breathing difficulties, nausea, irritated skin and burning eyes, mouths and throats.

At least six people were hospitalized with complications of pre-existing lung conditions. Most victims were treated for exposure to the chemical and released.

The safety valve was designed to pop open if pressure reached the dangerous level of 100 pounds per square inch. Instead it ruptured when the pressure was only 55 pounds per square inch, General Chemical spokesman Eric Miller said.

“We’re still at this time uncertain about the cause,” he said.

The chemical, which was manufactured at the General Chemical facility, was being transferred from one part of the plant to another when the accident occurred.

About 30 tons of oleum had been unloaded from the car when the valve broke at 7:15 a.m. Workers were forced to wait until most of the remaining gas had escaped and the pressure was sharply reduced before they were able to stop the leak about 11 a.m.

Authorities evacuated a small area around the scene and directed residents in the path of the cloud to stay indoors, shut their windows and turn off their air conditioners.

But children playing outside, morning joggers, residents working in their yards and motorists on their way to work were caught by the toxic cloud as it passed through the area. Shortly after noon, the directive to stay inside was lifted.

Some residents criticized health authorities for not evacuating neighborhoods, but officials said they feared that many more people would have been exposed as they tried to leave the area.

Residents also were angry that an industrial accident could occur so close to densely populated neighborhoods.

“There is a civic uproar,” said Richmond Fire Department Battalion Chief Bill Lewis. “They want to know why did it happen and why didn’t we stop it from happening.”

At Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Richmond, administrators canceled all regularly scheduled appointments and converted the cafeteria and conference room into waiting rooms to handle the more than 1,400 people who came for treatment for exposure to the sulfuric acid.

“It’s kind of hard to breathe,” said Zula Addison, who was waiting for treatment at the hospital. “I have shortness of breath and my throat burns.”

She said she was exposed to the fumes when she drove through the cloud to pick up her granddaughter. “It looked like real thick fog,” she said. “You could hardly see across the street.”

Adults and children with watering eyes, burning and itching skin, and shortness of breath filled waiting rooms and hallways well into the afternoon as they waited for medical care.

Brookside Hospital in San Pablo received more than 600 patients, Merrithew Memorial Hospital in Martinez and its outpatient clinic treated 660, Doctors Hospital in Pinole treated 400 victims, and Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley treated more than 170. Many others sought treatment from their own physicians or at neighborhood clinics.

Dr. Donald Fischer, chief physician at Kaiser Permanente, said most people exposed to the sulfuric acid are unlikely to have long-term health problems.

“The chronic effect of a single exposure has not been well studied,” he said. “As far as we know, there is none.”

In cases where exposure is more severe, burning of the eyes, skin or lungs can cause permanent damage, but no such cases have been reported as a result of the Richmond spill.

Some health officials and local authorities suggested that some of the patients did not suffer symptoms from the spill but were reporting to the hospital in the hope of receiving a legal settlement. But such cases, they said, were difficult to separate from those with legitimate symptoms.

“The patients we’re most concerned about are the ones with shortness of breath,” said Sue Peterson, a spokeswoman for Brookside Hospital, the closest to the scene of the accident. “But we are lucky. We have not had anyone who sustained major injuries.”

Times staff writer Eric Young contributed to this report.