The partial evacuation Tuesday afternoon at the 222-S Laboratory at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state was done as a precaution after “about a thimble full” of a legacy chemical was discovered prior to disposal, an agency spokesperson said in Wednesday emails.
The evacuation of 50 to 60 people, initially reported by the Tri-City Herald newspaper, occurred around 2:20 p.m. Pacific Time. The area was evacuated after an employee in Room 4D at the 222-S Laboratory, managed by Navarro-led Hanford Laboratory Management and Integration, handled a vial of the chemical crotonaldehyde.
The worker sought to stabilize the vial for shipment to an offsite treatment facility when the employee saw what appeared to be crystals formed on the vial, which was inside another clear container, according to DOE. The worker then notified supervisors. Hanford’s Emergency Operations Center was alerted.
The safety data sheet for crotonaldehyde from Thermo Fisher Scientific says that crystals are a sign “peroxidation may have occurred and the product should be considered extremely dangerous.” Generally speaking, crotonaldehyde is highly flammable in liquid or vapor form and is toxic if swallowed, according to the data sheet. Prolonged or repeated exposure to the chemical can damage organs, according to the document.
“Crotonaldehyde is a clear, colorless to straw colored liquid with a strong, suffocating odor … [and] It is highly flammable and produces toxic vapors at room temperature,” according to the National Library of Medicine.
No medical evaluation was necessary for the employee, as there was no exposure to the chemical, according to the DOE spokesperson.
The Tri-City Herald said the Richland Police Department removed the chemical from the laboratory.
“All safety protocols and procedures were followed by the contractor,” and normal operations resumed at the lab about 4:20 p.m. local time, according to the DOE spokesperson.
