what fun the people of Deleware Water Gap, Pa. had during the chemical spill

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More than three dozen people were evacuated from their homes in Delaware Water Gap after a chemical leak Saturday morning at the Vertellus Specialties plant on Route 611 next to the Martz bus station.The Martz Trailways ticket office was closed to ticket sales, but buses were allowed to stop and unload passengers.Vertellus, formerly known as Heico, manufactures a number of salts and alkenyl succinic anhydrides, compounds that are used in everything from lubricants to food starches, pharmaceuticals and epoxy hardeners.Four people — three adults and a child — were taken to Pocono Medical Center for treatment. One of the adults complained of dizziness and nausea, and the others were taken there as a precaution, according to the Monroe County emergency management center.The chemical compounds that leaked — maleic anhydride, octene and alkenyl succinic anhydride — are considered irritants. Symptoms from exposure include sore throat, watery eyes and nausea.Stephen Pletchan, an emergency responder with the state Department of Environmental Protection, was at the scene, along with HMHTTC Response Inc., a national hazardous materials cleanup company contracted by Vertellus. HMHTTC has an office in Brodheadsville.

Fire departments from Delaware Water Gap, Marshalls Creek, Shawnee and Stroud Township also responded, as did state police from Swiftwater and Delaware Water Gap police. The Stroudsburg Fire Department was placed on standby.The leak occurred at 7:45 a.m. Saturday from a valve on one of the plant's outdoor tanks, according to Steve Schieferly, operations manager. Vapors from the leak were visible from a glass-enclosedcontrol room.The leak occurred during a shift-change at the plant, which operates 24 hours a day. Schieferly called 911 and the facility was evacuated. Five employees were on the site at the time.The leaking liquid emitted fumes that were potentially explosive and, as a precaution, people living and working nearby were evacuated by firefighters. The initial evacuation area spanned Route 611 up to Cherry Valley Road.The Red Cross set up shelters at Stroudsburg High School and Smithfield Elementary School. About 30 people went to the Smithfield center and eight to Stroudsburg.Bruce Henry, deputy director of the Monroe County Office of Emergency Management, said that when he arrived at 8:20 a.m. he saw vapor from the leak in the air above the plant. The cloud was drifting toward Broad Street. He described the odor as a sweet chemical smell. Schieferly said it reminds him of salad dressing.According to Pletchan of the DEP, approximately 17,000 pounds of combined chemicals were leaked. Approximately 15,000 pounds of the liquid chemical were recovered by the hazmat company by 4 p.m. and pumped into a tank.Early estimates were that 1500 pounds of the chemical maelic anhydride formed a solid block when it was exposed to air. "It's inert," Pletchan said. "It looks like a block of ice."It was too early to estimate the amount of octene that leaked into the air. According to Robert Morlino, president of the health and specialty products division of Vertellus, octene is the chemical people smelled.

Morlino worked as a chemist prior to assuming a management position with Vertellus.Pletchan said the whole site is covered with concrete. "The area under the tanks is made to contain a spill and funnels to a catch basin. The catch basin functioned as it was supposed to," he said.Volunteer firefighters applied a layer of foam on top of the leak to suppress vapor rising from the liquid into the air. Water was pumped from Cherry Creek to the site and was used to create the foam.Contrary to earlier reports, residents were not allowed to return to their homes until Saturday afternoon. Residents of the Water Gap Village apartment complex directly across from Vertellus were kept away until dinner time.Vertellus employs 25 people full-time and four or five part-time. The predecessor company, Heico, moved to the Delaware Water Gap location after the flood of 1955, and was previously located on Second Street in Stroudsburg.According to a recent press release, Vertellus is a specialty chemical maker focused on the manufacture of ingredients used in pharmaceuticals, personal care, nutrition, agriculture and other market areas influenced by "green" technologies and chemistries.Vertellus is a global producer of pyridine and picolines, specialty pyridine derivatives, DEET, castor oil derivatives and systems, and citrate polymer additives and systems, and is the world's largest producer of vitamin B-3. The company is headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind.Last week, the local facility received the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association 2007 Gold Performance Improvement Award, sponsored by SOCMA's ChemStewards program.The award, given to only four facilities nationally, recognizes member facilities for outstanding commitment to continuous improvement in environmental, health, safety and security performance.)
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"Better Things for Better Living...Through Chemistry." DuPont

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Living_Through_Chemistry