PASIR GUDANG: While motorists looked on anxiously, the Hazardous Materials Unit members clad in bright yellow and orange protection suits moved in contain a potentially hazardous chemical spill on the Senai-Desaru Expressway.
Traffic had come to a standstill following the collision of a car with a lorry transporting hydrochloric acid, which had spilled from the vehicle onto the road.
An emergency response team safely extricated the injured lorry driver, who had received severe burns, and removed the two passengers "killed" in the accident.
Thankfully, the dire situation was merely a drill to establish response protocol for road accidents involving vehicles transporting hazardous chemicals on a public road.
The multi-casualty chemical spill drill was led by the Chemical Emergency Service (CES) team of Chemical Company of Malaysia Bhd (CCM) which has a manufacturing facility in Pasir Gudang. Local emergency personnel from the Senai-Desaru Expressway Emergency Response Team (ERT), police, Fire and Rescue Department, Ambulance, Malaysian Highway Authority and Department of Environment were also involved.
CCM Chemicals' facility in Pasir Gudang produces chlor-alkali products such as liquid chlorine, caustic soda, and polyaluminium chloride, which are used in the manufacture of oleochemicals, soap and detergent, metal, electronic, textile, petrochemicals and rubber products.
The chloralkali process is the technology used to produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), commodity chemicals required by the industry.
At the drill, the first to arrive at the scene was a sub-division engineer from the highway's ERT, who made and reported his assessments from a a safe distance with binoculars.
The local emergency personnel arrived next, moving the injured to safety and for medical attention. The "deceased" were sent to the hospital for a post-mortem.
Proper traffic management ensured smooth vehicular flow during the drill that lasted over an hour.
"CCM recognises the importance of adhering to the Safety, Health and Environment regulations and we work hard to meet the standards across all our divisions, specifically chemicals.
"The drill is an important training platform for CCM and the highway's ERT to collaborate and coordinate standard operating procedures to successfully manage a spill. It has also enabled us to identify the areas for improvement and ensure that the ERT is equipped to handle such a crisis," said CCM Chemicals director, Mohamed Nazmi Sallehhudin.
The team prevented the spill it from leaking into nearby drains with the use of a chemical absorbent boom. Spillage from drums was also minimised and gradually stopped while the hydrochloric acid (HCL) was neutralised with soda ash. As an extra precaution, the team also checked the water pH in the drains before declaring the area safe from contaminants.
HCL is used extensively in the industry to "pickle" (treat and cleaning) steel and pH correction in the industrial wastewater treatment process. It is corrosive and its fumes can cause burns and respiratory, skin and eye irritation if mishandled.
