Arizona HAZMAT Leak: ‘Shelter-in-Place’ Order Reinstated by Officials

Arizona officials confirmed morning that a shelter-in-place that was issued a day before was reinstated on Feb. 15, 2023, as photos from Tucson fire officials show HAZMAT crews working the scene. Tucson Fire Department

Arizona officials confirmed Wednesday morning that a shelter-in-place that was issued a day before was reinstated after a crash that resulted in a spill of hazardous chemicals—coming days after a train derailed and released toxic materials in Ohio.

“Unified Command has reinstated the shelter-in-place order for a one-mile perimeter around the incident. While crews were attempting to remove the load from the commercial vehicle, gassing occurred. Interstate 10 remains closed in both directions between Kolb & Rita roads in Tucson,” the Arizona Department of Public Safety wrote on Wednesday in an update.

The department urged motorists and members of the public to “avoid the area” and that “Unified Command advises anyone within the one-mile perimeter to turn off heaters and/or air conditioning systems that bring in outside air.” The agency further expects an “extensive closure,” according to the update.

The initial shelter-in-place order was lifted around 10:45 p.m. ET before it was reinstated on Wednesday morning at around 8 a.m. ET. Those who were initially evacuated will have to stay outside the half-mile perimeter, authorities said.

The driver of the vehicle that had transported the chemicals later died, officials said.

Officials say the chemical involved in this incident is nitric acid, which is used to manufacture ammonium nitrate for fertilizers as well as plastics and dyes. Exposure to the substance can cause eye and skin irritation, and more severe exposure can result in pneumonitis, bronchitis, dental erosion, and delayed pulmonary edema, according to the National Library of Medicine.

A highly corrosive material, nitric acid is a colorless liquid that can emit yellow or red fumes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It has an acrid odor, officials say.

“Prolonged exposure to low concentrations or short-term exposure to high concentrations may result in adverse health effects,” the National Library of Medicine says on its website.

The Tucson Fire Department wrote on social media that hazardous materials, or HAZMAT, teams were involved in the cleanup.

The nearby Vail School District said it canceled all school activity buses on Tuesday afternoon due to the incident.

Ohio Incident

The incident comes days after a Norfolk Southern-operated train derailed near East Palestine, Ohio, leading to a spill of volatile and toxic chemicals. Authorities in Ohio later initiated the controlled release and burn of those chemicals, while citing an explosion risk if they did not.

Because federal and state agencies were slow to issue updates about the train fire, there has been widespread speculation about the incident. Meanwhile, locals who live near the derailment site complained about adverse health events and others said they’ve witnessed animals dying off, including chickens, foxes, and fish.

During a news conference on Tuesday, a state environmental official told reporters that a “plume” of unknown chemicals from train was moving down the Ohio River. But the official, Tiffani Kavalec, stated that the river is diluting the chemical plume as it moves downstream.

“We know there is a plume (of chemicals) moving down the Ohio River,” Tiffani Kavalec, the head of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s water management subdivision, said in a news conference. “We think it’s on its way towards Huntington, West Virginia, now,” she added.

In that same press conference, state officials, including Gov. Mike DeWine, advised East Palestine residents and people who use private well water to drink bottled water—namely if they are pregnant or breastfeeding women.

After the press conference, many questions remain unanswered after the train derailment and fire. The train, notably, was carrying the highly toxic vinyl chloride.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday that videos of the train incident appear to show “a wheel bearing in the final stage of overheat failure moments before the derailment” earlier this month. “The suspected overheated wheel bearing has been collected and will be examined by engineers from the NTSB Materials Laboratory in Washington, D.C,” it said.