news story / By Daniel Mintz

Waterfront Meltdown

Closure of Eureka Ice ends serious health threat, but poses new problems

(Sept. 11, 2008)  The Eureka Ice and Cold Storage refrigeration warehouse is one of the most essential businesses to the local fishing industry, but it’s also been deemed a threat to public health and its owners have decided to shut it down.

A situation that has been on the county’s enforcement radar for three-and-a-half years is being resolved this week as Eureka Ice, which has been in business for about 50 years, evacuates its anhydrous ammonia refrigerant system on Waterfront Drive and closes. The business is owned by the Hunter family, whose spokesman is Dennis Hunter. He said Tuesday the family weighed some tough choices — staying open and facing $9.4 million in fines and heavy investment in upgrades, or resolving the situation quickly and finally by closing.

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Hunter, who is better known as a Harbor District commissioner, said he and his siblings “inherited” the business when his father, Gilbert A. Hunter, died in December 2006. “So we’re kind of left with this problem,” Hunter said, and the problem is that Eureka Ice has structural and cooling system deficiencies that could trigger releases of potentially harmful gaseous ammonia.

When U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and county inspectors went to Eureka Ice last July, they found substandard conditions and at one point had to leave the area they were in because ammonia gas was seeping from a pipe valve. A subsequent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) draft inspection report summarized the potential for catastrophe.

“Eureka Ice and Cold Storage is located close, two blocks, from Old Town and downtown Eureka and an ammonia release is an extreme hazard to the surrounding community,” the report states. “Additionally, the condition of the building, ammonia refrigeration equipment, equipment supports and the discovery of an ammonia leak during the inspection indicates that a future release is probable.”

An earthquake could cause a release, and Humboldt County is within a high-probability quake zone. But Mary Wesling, an EPA enforcement coordinator, said other risks are more relevant. “An ammonia release is more likely to occur because of failure of equipment or human error than an earthquake,” she said.

The agency’s July 16 draft inspection report details the problems. Eureka Ice has three large condensers on its roof which hold compressed ammonia, and they’re propped on a metal platform that is corroded, along with its braces. The report states that the platform is of “questionable integrity.”

More: “The building is old and dilapidated with deteriorated support columns which required re-anchoring to the floor.” Heavy frost accumulation, “large sagging pipes” and “bent pipe supports” are also problematic. The ammonia release that occurred during the inspection happened at a valve where two pipes are joined.

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