Residents of north Toledo went to bed on Tuesday thinking the haze outside was ordinary autumn fog. By 10.48pm they were being told to leave. A container at the MC Tank Transport terminal on Progress Avenue had started releasing glycidyl methacrylate, a chemical used in industrial coatings, and the Ohio city’s fire department ordered everyone within a mile to get out.
About 1,000 people were affected by that first order. At 4.24am on Wednesday officials went further and told everyone within three miles to stay indoors with windows shut. The tank held roughly 5,500 gallons. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, firefighters failed to stop the release, and because a reaction was running inside the damaged tank the city chose to let it finish rather than intervene. The city insisted there had been no explosion.
Still, families described a frightening night. People spoke of sticky mist on windscreens, stinging eyes, sore throats and headaches; one mother said it felt like a scary movie. The weather made everything harder, since thick natural fog and almost no wind meant nobody could tell by looking where the plume ended. One firefighter suffered a minor injury.
Health commissioner Karim Baroudi said the substance is a long-term carcinogen but posed “no immediate danger”, and advised anyone feeling irritation to shower. Tap water was not affected. The company, based in Arkansas, said it understood the disruption and would help those forced out of their homes.
Late on Wednesday afternoon most of Toledo could breathe again: people were free to open their windows, and only homes within roughly 800 metres of the terminal remained off limits. The EPA is keeping several monitoring stations around the site and plans to bring in a mobile air laboratory later this week.
