A week after a chemical release at a North Toledo tank terminal forced evacuations, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio EPA have begun oversight of cleanup work at the site, and the federal agency has published a public data viewer showing air monitoring results around the neighborhood, the City of Toledo said in an update posted Tuesday evening, Oct. 27.
The release began about 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20, when a 911 call alerted Toledo Fire & Rescue to an active release of an unknown material from a tanker at 1266 Progress Ave., the MC Tank Terminal, according to the city’s timeline. Fire officials ordered everyone within a one-mile radius to evacuate that night because of the threat of explosion, and a three-mile shelter-in-place order followed early Wednesday, Oct. 21, based on preliminary plume modeling.
The chemical was identified as glycidyl methacrylate, an irritant that can cause burning of the eyes, nose, mouth and skin, according to the city. The evacuation zone shrank as air quality improved and the tank cooled — to a half-mile on Oct. 21 and a quarter-mile on Oct. 22 — and firefighters lifted the evacuation order at noon on Friday, Oct. 23, after verifying the release had stopped, the city said.
Air monitoring continues in the community, led by the U.S. EPA with support from Toledo’s environmental services division and a contractor hired by the responsible party, according to the city. On Saturday, Oct. 24, the EPA’s mobile TAGA laboratory detected an extremely low level of glycidyl methacrylate below reporting and screening levels, and follow-up sampling over the next hour and along its neighborhood route produced no additional detections, the city said.
The city also addressed a new odor complaint on Tuesday: the Oregon Fire Department contacted Toledo’s Environmental Services Division on Oct. 27 about a strong odor, and while the investigation is ongoing, the city said the odor appears to be coming from a landfill in Oregon and is not related to the chemical release at the terminal.
For residents returning home, the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department advises ventilating homes, cleaning surfaces with warm water and dish soap while wearing gloves, and discarding uncovered food that was left out during the exposure, according to the city’s guidance. Ohio State University Extension recommends disposing of any produce or crops that were outdoors within the three-mile shelter-in-place zone, and the city is cleaning all playgrounds within that zone.
Photo: Leeski10, CC BY-SA
Tap water is safe, all roads and waterways have reopened, and anyone who still needs shelter can call 1-800-RED-CROSS or 211, the city said. The health department operates an informational hotline at 419-779-7089, and residents with serious symptoms such as difficulty breathing should call 911.