on the cover / By HSU Investigative Reporting students

Meltdown

It is commonly used in large-scale commercial refrigeration systems. The ammonia is sealed inside the system and continuously cycles from liquid to gas form, removing heat and creating refrigeration.

Anhydrous ammonia is ideal for cold storage because it is inexpensive, said hazardous materials specialist Robert Burke. Your fridge at home uses freon, not ammonia. Freon is used in small appliances. Burke said it would be too costly to use freon in the mass quantity needed for cold storage facilities or ice plants.

A fire marshal for the University of Maryland, Burke is a veteran of 30 years in fire and emergency services. He wrote a book titled Hazardous Materials Chemistry for Emergency Responders. If a person comes into contact with ammonia gas, he said, prolonged exposure could potentially shut down the respiratory system. At the very least, someone who comes in contact with the chemical experiences a burning sensation pervading the skin and eyes. “If a person comes into contact with liquid anhydrous ammonia it will cause serious frost bite and burns,” Burke said. “If a person is surrounded by the gas and can’t get away, it will kill them.”

When an ice-making system works properly, Burke said, the chemical is contained within it, and there is nothing to worry about. It is when the system fails or a pipe begins to leak that the situation becomes dangerous for anyone nearby. “Anhydrous ammonia tanks need to be placed in a place with no population,” he said, “just in case of the event of a release.”

HSU Chemistry Professor Bill Golden said no ammonia would ever leave a closed cooling system and it would never touch things meant for consumption as long as it is properly handled and regulated. If it were to leak, he said, an ammonia cloud would vaporize and dissipate as long as the wind is more than five miles an hour.

According to the National Weather Service, wind patterns in Eureka are characteristically sporadic. There are many days, particularly in the summer, in which Eureka experiences winds of five miles per hour or less. Meteorologist Troy Nicolini said that winds typically blow stronger during the day. And Tom Manoli, environmental health and safety coordinator at HSU said that an ammonia cloud would take longer to dissipate on cold days.

In March 2003, SHN Consulting Engineers and Geologists, a firm that provides planning and surveying services to northern California, did a preliminary seismic assessment for the ice house. In it the firm mapped out a worst case scenario for an ammonia leak in the event of a sizeable earthquake. It shows downtown Eureka and a circle stretching from Woodley Island to Harris Street and the Bay to the Eureka Slough. Eureka Ice lies at the center of the circle.

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