UNIVERSITY FINDS, REMOVES AND DESTROYS HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL

FAYETTEVILLE - Working with a team of police, fire, and emergency agencies, University of Arkansas Police (UAPD) and the Springdale Police Department EOD (Explosives Ordnance Disposal) Unit removed three containers of potentially hazardous chemicals from a University laboratory Thursday evening. They transported the chemicals north of the city and destroyed them at the Johnson Police Department firing range.

The chemicals removed, according to Dr. Miriam Lonon, manager of environmental health and safety at the UofA, were:

--about 100 grams of the potentially explosive nitro-compound called nitroguanidine;

--about 100 grams of picric acid in a dry powder.

--less than a liter of saturated picric acid solution.

Picric acid, or trinitrophenol, is a chemical used in the manufacture of explosives and as an intermediate in dye manufacturing. It is also present in many laboratories for use as a chemical reagent, particularly by researchers who study tissue samples. In a solid form, such as powder, picric acid would be classified as an explosive. In a dilute solution, however, it would be completely stable.

The chemicals were found in Room 415 of the Science Engineering Building. Their discovery resulted from a comprehensive chemical hygiene program that Dr. Lonon put in place last summer to rid the campus of potential hazards.

The chemicals were left over from the laboratory of a professor who had retired. The three items that were removed last night were situated with many other chemicals-all of them non-explosive-that had to be removed first. Due to the hazardous nature of the nitroguanidine and picric acid, it was determined that they needed to be removed from campus and destroyed as quickly as possible.

The removal operation was coordinated by UAPD in conjunction with the UA Office of Health and Environmental Safety, the Springdale Police Department EOD unit; the Fayetteville police and fire departments; Central EMS; and the Johnson police department.

The operation began about 7:30 p.m, with the Springdale Police Department EOD unit removing the materials from the Science Engineering Building. As a safety precaution, the squad placed the container on a dump truck loaded with sand. The dump truck became the centerpiece of a caravan of emergency vehicles that left campus heading north on Garland Avenue. The caravan escorted the dump truck to the Johnson Police Department firing range, where the chemicals were destroyed at approximately 9:30 p.m.

On October 7, the Office of Environmental Health and Safety discovered a container of picric acid in another laboratory in the same Science Engineering Building. A similar team of emergency agencies transported it to a quarry near West Fork and destroyed it.

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Roger Williams, University Relations, 479-575-5555
Dr. Miriam Lonon, Environmental Health and Safety, 479-575-3597