MET (Mystery Explosion Topic) >> Lehigh U. LExplosion Forces Evacuation, Brief Closure (PA)

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

[Fair Use: For Education and Research Purpose Only]

LINK

LEHIGH U LABORATORY EXPLOSION FORCES BRIEF CLOSURE

No one was injured in the morning blast in Jordan Hall. Its cause was not determined.

By BILL TATTERSALL Of The Morning Call 02/26/00

A morning explosion and fire in a laboratory on Lehigh University's Mountaintop Campus forced officials to evacuate a building and close the campus for more than two hours Friday.

It was the second explosion in a Lehigh laboratory in seven months. A July 2 blast in the Whitaker building on the main campus injured six people.

No one was injured in the 8:30 a.m. explosion in the Jordan Hall lab, used by CDG Technologies Inc., a company in Lehigh's Ben Franklin Technologies, an incubator program for small industries.

The explosion occurred before many of the 40 people who work in the building had arrived, and only 12 people were forced out. All were sent home, Ben Franklin spokeswoman Laura Eppler said.

But the fire heavily damaged the lab and a storage room next to it, officials said.

And because chlorine gas is used in the lab, police and firefighters prepared to evacuate the area before determining the chemicals posed little risk.

CDG Technologies President Tom McWhorter said officials at the company, which makes cartridges for municipal water purification, are puzzled by what caused the explosion or started the fire.

McWhorter said one of the five employees in the lab was doing routine work with a stable chemical. The process was not new and had caused no problems previously, he said.

McWhorter said the employee filled a 4-foot plastic tube with sodium chlorite, capped it and briefly walked away. When the employee returned, flames were coming from the tube's top.

The employee immediately set off alarms and evacuated the building, McWhorter said. The tube apparently then overheated, burst open and ignited the workbench and floor.

When firefighters arrived, they were wary of the chorine gas and handed out gas masks to police who were keeping traffic away. Lower Saucon Township police and firefighters prepared to evacuate nearby areas.

But McWorter said chlorine used at the facility is so diluted that even if a cylinder ruptured, "the most it would do is irritate the eyes of anyone standing right near it. It would dissipate before it became a threat." CDG keeps two to five cylinders of diluted chlorine gas in the lab.

Bethlehem Fire Commissioner Kevin Moyzan said the fire "was put out quickly once we got in there and got water on it." He said the lab's ventilation system "really worked and contained the fire to the two rooms."

"Everything went right with this," said Mark Lang, executive director of Ben Franklin Technologies. "The fire company got here right away, Tom's people knew what to do and evacuated immediately and the building held up like it is supposed to."

Lehigh owns Jordan Hall and is in charge of cleaning up the building. University officials said EP&S Environmental Services of Harrisburg was to arrive Friday night.

Jordan Hall was closed for the rest of Friday, but was scheduled to reopen to other tenants next week. Officials said it was unknown when CDG could return to the lab.

Formerly a Bethlehem Steel Corp. photographic laboratory, Jordan Hall is leased to Ben Franklin Technologies, which administers 10 small industries with a total of 40 employees.

In August, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Lehigh for two minor violations in the July laboratory explosion. The blast forced more than 100 people from the building and damaged the lab.

===========================

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 26, 2000

Answers

--secret hakked information I have in my possession suggests it was a cia/mkULTRA recombinant DNA experiment to cross SPAM with pinto beans, for the ultimate cyborg soldier rations. It will be called SPLAM! when it's perfected........

-- itsa (coverup@forsure.don'ttell), February 26, 2000.

LOLOL itsa Good one.

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 26, 2000.

ditto itsa. good way to start a sunday am.

-- tt (cuddluppy@aol.com), February 27, 2000.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ