(upbeat music) - Welcome to GAS, the true story of a toxic trained derailment. I'm Ron Scholl. Last time on GAS, while the tech struggled to transfer liquid chlorine, leaving the leaking car three for last, the highest chlorine spike so far erupted. Meanwhile, officials struggle to address residents' health and safety concerns amid growing discontent. We now continue with part one, chapter 20, reactions. Epigraph, "We have no idea what's in it," Jamie Becker said about the other car. Some residents told Becker to shut up. April 14, evacuee meeting. On the jury morning of April 11, the spill scene was vibrant with color. Redish orange splattered on tanks, yellow pooled on the ground, and in the ditch, a gooey paint of dark purple. Did the colors reveal chemical reactions? Scenes of other major chlorine spills look simply white with chlorine hydrate, a white solid, coating the immediate area. In a color-mazulean photo, car three, originally white, were a reddish orange mantle near its broken end above the ditch. The adjacent black cressellate tank looked brownish orange on its broken end, the two tank heads touching. In between them, the ground and debris were yellowish, with the clear curves of a shoreline as if a liquid pooled. How to explain the chemistry of colors? I don't know, Chris Weiss said. It's pretty complicated, but this is what I can envision happening, which is somewhat speculation. First of all, the yellow between the tanks, that's liquid chlorine, and it's boiling. You can see it boiling around the edge where it's white. It's just boiling. That's unbelievable. You'll never see that. Hopefully, you'll never see that. Pure chlorine gas was green, which Weiss witnessed at times, but the gas in this photo was white, probably a mix of chlorine and water vapor. Of the apparent chlorine pool, Weiss said, "Maybe that is self-cooled to the point of being viscous, "but this is just a bizarre photograph, "because even if it was chlorine, "then it's self-cooling and then evaporating "at a tremendous rate." Rapid freeze-thaw cycles. Chlorine-release test observations have since revealed that a large rupture low in a tank may allow liquid chlorine to temporarily pool on the ground. At the same time, potassium-crestylate poured into the ditch beyond the tank heads. Weiss had thought chlorine compounds formed well after the initial release, as fresh chlorine gas drifted over the spilled crestylate and reacted. But as the crestylate spilled and the chlorine spewed, liquid chlorine went into the ditch as evidenced by the ice under car four. "You're right," he said. "It would seem plausible that some of it went into the ditch "and mixed, and there was a reaction mixture in the ditch." In looking at the scene, one fell compelled to ask, "What happened here?" Surprisingly, this scene inspired no forensic speculation. The picture ran in the mazillion without any identification or analysis. With car threes hole now known to be near the bottom of the tank, a plausible scenario was that after the initial flash, liquid chlorine poured onto the ground, some spilling between the two tanks, the yellow color, perhaps self-cooling to last a few hours, boiling away periodically at the surface and edges. Some chlorine also dumped into the ditch where it pooled beneath car four, later with a cocoon of ice. At the same time, the purplish potassium-crestylate dumped into the ditch, the tilted tank mostly emptying. The reddish orange brown on top of the tanks possibly indicated a reactive mix of the two chemicals. There was no record of a wipe sample taken from the tank tops. This splattering appeared to reflect liquid drops falling down on top of the tanks. This could have resulted from a violent exothermic reaction between the two chemicals in the ditch, which threw up an outward a spray of mixed chemicals and colors. In the close-up photo, the ditch obscured by fumes, the tanks seemed poised on the edge of a noxious abyss. Friday, April 19. Garren Smith taught environmental chemistry at the University of Montana and sat on the Missoula City County Boards of Health. Smith had been away on spring break until April 14. On April 16, Smith heard from Jim Carlson of the Health Department that people returned to their homes were complaining about a pesticide-like smell and suffering a variety of recurring discomforts. Smith later wrote, " Carlson asked about the likelihood of reactive interactions between the vented chlorine and the organic material in an adjacent leaking tank car. Carlson told Smith the two cars were in intimate contact. Smith told Carlson, "I think there's something to worry about. You better give me a sample so I can test it." Smith didn't recall ever knowing how much cressellate had spilled. The newspaper accounts weren't real informative, he said. But through officials, I knew there was a pool of it in the ditch. Smith added, "I had to look up potassium cressellate. It's not one of your everyday chemicals." Smith would perform a sample analysis, utilizing the university labs, thermal desorption, gas chromatograph, mass spectrometer, the GC-MS. By chance, Smith was doing research for the Army at the time and had the fastest device available for analysis of semi-volatile organics, SVOCs. "It takes about 20 minutes to get an answer," he said. Conventional analytical labs took about 48 hours to do a quick analysis. The EPA collected a sample of the stained ditch soil on April 14, but they wouldn't get the analysis back until April 22, originally in no hurry to get results. The EPA in Olympus began working with Smith. On April 17, Olympus collected a sample in the vicinity of the cressellate tank. On April 18, Smith's lab deserved what we believed was a contaminated soil sample, he said, expecting to look for trace levels. Soon, the lab reeked with the odor of cressell and recaptons. Smith learned from Olympus that he had been given a sample of pure-product sludge, which rendered the lab's instrument useless afterwards and so properly cleaned. Smith recalled the cressell's smell like medicine to him and didn't bother me at all, he said. But the smell was powerful, despite a very small sample and a lab with good venting. In an initial scan of the chromatograph, Smith found phenol and a string of various phenol compounds, including chlorinated ones. Phenol and methyl phenols made up industrial grade cresol. The chlorinated compounds had formed in reaction with the chlorine. Potassium cressellate was cresol dissolved in potassium hydroxide. Cressell is phenol with a methyl group on it, Smith explained. The three major components I found in the tank were phenol, ortho-cresol and paracresol, which are two and four methyl phenol. Add chlorine to the mix. Clearly, Smith wrote, chlorinated phenol across products had been formed from a combination of chlorine and the aromatics in the cressellate tank car. Late Thursday, unified command got the news. Smith later met with the health department, Olympus's Dave Torgerson, and an MRL rep to plan investigating how far the compounds migrated and how to contain any. At the same time, Smith wrote, I was queried about what I would suggest for identifying the white powder reported by Alberton residents who had visited their homes. Smith made four recommendations. Cover the sludge with plastic to prevent infiltration of rain that might threaten groundwater with contaminants. Collect soil samples readily from the site to analyze for SVOCs as evidence of air fallout. Collect two air samples from the site area for organic analysis and test the white powder. When Smith ran a blank run after the initial attempt at cleaning his instrument array, the residue acted like another full, if much less concentrated sample and gave a higher quality reading. On April 19, Smith had a list of 35 tentatively identified compounds, including various phenols, benzene, chlorofenols, and chlorinated creasols. This analysis did not measure concentrations. EPA's White's recalled, I was standing there when he ran those samples. White stopped taking notes after 30 or 40 compounds. The onslaught of chlorinated compounds, he said, was an unwelcome surprise. Ellen Leahy reported at the Friday incident command plans meeting, people are having symptoms when they return for limited visits. Dr. Garren Smith, UM chemist, confirmed that the chemicals did mix. We don't know what all the compounds are at this time. We are working from the site out in a spoke-like pattern to attempt to locate the migration zone. Leahy sought to account for reports of odors, symptoms, and white dust. Chlorine had been eliminated as a suspect, though visitors also reported chlorine at times. The IC log emphasized, the emergency is not over until it is safe for people to return to their homes. Yet, there was no talk of ending visits by residents. Smith's discovery was big news at the 2 p.m. evacuee meeting, where he presented his findings to a standing room only crowd. Leahy told residents, there's been some concern about what other compounds may be at the site. We talked yesterday about our belief that you were smelling something, and we sure wanted to find out what it was. We also got reports yesterday of some precipitate in some of the houses, and we have said about today actually testing that precipitate. Leahy seemed a little nervous, and she brought up concerns about chlorine and crystallite mixing. We wanted to find the answer to the question as to, first of all, what is out there that is irritating people? And secondly, what are you smelling? Thirdly, are there chlorinated compounds? Now, those three may all come together at some point, she said. Leahy said Dr. Smith did confirm for us the presence of chlorinated compounds. In fact, chlorinated phenols. We do not know if these compounds migrated off-site. They would test soil and surfaces of homes in a sort of spoke-like fashion, and out from the site, she said. Until they got answers, she said, we cannot look at reentry. I think these are very important health concerns. Pesticide smells, white dust, and reactive symptoms. Was it chemical reaction the answer to these mysteries? To applause, Leahy introduced Smith, who explained how his test sample really gave our instrument a puff of powerful compounds. Unfortunately, he said, until we get it cleaned, we can't run the air samples that we collected yesterday to know if there's been any migration off-site. But I am ready to show you today our results from doing a screening test. Smith put up an overhead of some compounds. He first described phenol, then one of the macaptons with its strong sulfur smell. Next, he showed two chlorofenol, a chlorinated phenol, and this is the type of compound we were worried we might have to look at, he said. Because this indicates that there was a chemical reaction between the contents of the chlorine tank and the cresselate. Next came a basic compound in the cresselate tank, two-methylphenol. This has a very strong "medicine" smell, Smith said. Two or three drops would completely make this room smell very medicine-like. And by the time you add the odor of the creosol and the macaptons, when you mix them together, that's mostly the smell that I think people are experiencing. Ubers stink. Smith here neglected to say that phenols and chlorinated phenols smell like pesticides. Next came another form of creosol, four-methylphenol. Then, 346 trichloro-cresol, another chlorinated alcohol, he said. Smith stopped after naming these six specific chemicals. I could go on for about 10 minutes showing you other compounds. It really wouldn't convey more information, other than to say that we did have some cross-reactions take place between the chlorine and the cresselate. Smith and energy labs in their split found 35 compounds. The complete list was not published before re-entry. Smith didn't think the compound's very volatile. Smith, there's the possibility that during the actual reactions that an aerosol, very fine droplets, were swept up into the air that could have had some of these with them and could have been transported away from the actual site of the tank breaching. And that's what that sampling away from the site is going to determine and what are air samples from yesterday when we could analyze them will probably tell us. However, he said, I wouldn't really expect much of it to move very far in the environment away from the actual reaction site. Smith's greatest concern was protecting groundwater. Until the cleanup, he recommended covering the contaminated soil with plastic, a preventative measure overlooked so far. Smith's presentation triggered many questions and heightened evacuees concerns about exposures. Topics included testing for dioxin, how far the compounds might have traveled, and the safety of letting people back into visit and live. Afterward, Smith departed to applause. Smith would write of his presentation. The important point I made was that we needed to determine how widespread the chlorinated cross products had traveled. I noted that once the initial chlorine venting had ended, there was a little reason to expect the chlorinated phenols and creosols to be moved. Leahy then introduced EPA toxicologist Chris Weiss. Weiss assured evacuees, one of the first things we did on the site was collect a sample of the creosol. That happened absolutely on the first day when EPA arrived here. Weiss omitted that sampling occurred April 14 when locals in MRL finally gave the EPA access. The EPA gathered their sample prior to hearing complaints, and in no particular hurry had not fast-tracked their analysis, which was also quantitative. Weiss, we're beginning to turn our attention to these more chemically complex substances that we know are associated with the site. We are seeing these chlorinated phenols. That's not unexpected. But to the public and by the logs, it had appeared completely unexpected. Weiss recalled it as a quote surprise. Weiss reported that he and Olympus sampled today in one Albertan home and the schools in search of the reported white dust. Among a flurry of questions a young woman asked, considering that the testing of the chlorine compounds in the area has not been done yet, and in what concentration you don't know, I'm wondering, in your opinion, would you suggest the reopening of any area that has been evacuated? Weiss explained that officials were establishing a set of criteria to use for people moving back in. But the area east of Pettie Creek had already been opened, and many people still visited the exclusion zone. Safety had been based solely on chlorine, and officials had made under-informed decisions. Now, residents still wanted to know about initial chlorine concentrations and modeling. Dan Watts promised again, now that they have the size of the hole in the tank, they'll be able to fairly accurately model just exactly that, he said, based on the weather stations and be able to determine parts per million out at the site. Watts then introduced two guests. We've also made a pledge to people to get as good people as we can in, in terms of specialists. And we have two people here today, Dr. Howard Sandler and MD and Dr. Sheldon Rabinowitz, a PhD in toxicology and industrial hygiene. Dr. Sandler was an occupational environmental physician with experience with the CDC and NIOSH, and as an advisor to the EPA and OSHA. Some evacuees had complained about the panel's lack of medical specialists in chlorine exposure, and this was MRL's response. Watts, who had been conferring with the Poison Control Center doctors, had nothing to do with the doctors MRL brought in. He recalled, "I think we just pretty much spanked them "and sent them on their way." The impression that they left with me was that they really weren't very experienced with this kind of an emergency response, a little bit like fish out of water. Rabinowitz later became a defense witness for MRL in litigation. Next, the EPA Steve Wei made his first evacuee meeting appearance and explained his role as on-scene coordinator. Wei assured that the EPA crest-late sample would be analyzed by the first of next week and eight-day turnaround. During the open Q&A session, Dr. Sandler reiterated what others had said. Most everyone was expected to get better and relatively soon. As questions continued, Waldron and Watts rose to leave, a young man. In regard to how far this stuff has spread from the site, around the fourth and fifth morning after this disaster in the morning rain, I walked out my cabin and smelled an extremely heavy pesticide-like smell, with slight irritation to eyes, nose, and throat. It was eight miles west, directly west of the derailment in the alleged safe zone. This would put him past Fish Creek. So he continued, "There's stuff "that definitely travel that way, "that sounds like what you're talking about. "Heavy pesticide, slight burning, "no chlorine smell per se, I mean, a little bit. "Smith. "The burning could be due to the hydrochloric acid, "which is the byproduct of the chlorine "reacting with water. "The combination of the creasal and those mercaptons "does have a very definite pesticide-like smell, "so I'm sure that's what you're detecting." Saying, "Man, who's the person I talk to to say, "Hey, document this. "I smell this stuff." Much of the panel had left. A woman told him to call the 1-800-MRL number, and they'll make sure you get to the right place, she said. Ultimately, there would be no public documentation of who smelled what, when, and where, including by ATSDR for their health survey. A young woman with dark brown hair stepped to the mic. Facilitator Mark Johnson tried to rein in the questions. "Would your question be better answered face-to-face "with someone?" he asked. "Woman, I would like the attention of the officials. "Johnson, most of them have left "because they had some other commitments. "There was a lot of background chatter "as if the meeting had ended, "and many people weren't paying attention. "The woman read from a list. "I'd like to know how the evacuation zones are determined. "I'd like to know about the criteria "for re-entering the evacuation zone. "I would also like to know if I can insist upon "quick sampling testing of my soil on my land "and in drinking water and the air." She then asked about the partial re-entry zone. "I'm wondering if all the tests haven't been done "and we've just found out yesterday "that chlorine compounds have been made, "and we do not know how they've traveled or migrated, "then how can any zone be re-entered? "No one left on the panel had an answer. "Woman, that is so important. "How could there not be one of the most important things "someone has to know? "Unknow man on the panel. "I'm sorry, but I don't have the answer. "Woman, someone has to know this. "Man on panel, but we'll put that down. "Woman, so right now I'm allowed to live up there, "but you haven't even determined the criteria you're saying? "You haven't determined the criteria? "Pause. "Woman, is there anyone here who knows? "Man on panel. "Ellen? "Ellen Leahy came back to the podium. "Man on panel. "The question that has been posed, "how did we determine that it was okay "for people to go back to this area? "Ellen, okay, I'm gonna answer this question, "and I'd like then people to be able to come up "and ask more questions. "This isn't working. "Ellen motion back and forth dismissively with her hands. "We're not able to give you the answers, "and at the same time help, "Ellen apparently meant that she had been busy "doing a one-on-one or small group meeting "and felt annoyed that her attention was now divided "with a general question. "But no one had officially ended the general meeting, "and Q&A was still obviously open. "Ellen, at that time what was considered "and what was known was the chlorine gas spill, "and that's the gas cloud. "And they looked at the meteorology, "what modeling they had, "and made decisions based on that. "Ellen failed to answer how that decision "made the woman's area safe now, "while future re-entry awaited the new health criteria. "Previous safety protocol had only been for chlorine gas, "and Leahy ignored the discrepancy. "The woman left. "If she had been stymied from asking her question "in the first place, "as was the apparent intent of the panel, "her question about the safety and logic "of previously reopening areas "would never have been publicly aired. "Not that many people, including the media "and unified command, were paying attention." As the room emptied, the meeting had effectively ended without a call to end. Walden Watts and Weiss had simply left. Meeting structure had disintegrated, leaving some residents clearly upset and with further questions. The Missoulian reported that Dr. Garren Smith discovered, quote, "Dozens of chlorinated compounds have been created "by the mixture of chlorine and potassium cressellate." Chlorophenol's, quote, "pesticide-like compounds," Smith explained, "were highly toxic." Visiting residents had complained of a, quote, "pesticide-like smell, severe headaches, "burning eyes, and nausea," even as officials reported, "no chlorine monitored in the air." Officials would test to see if the compounds migrated off site and criteria would be set for re-entry, the paper said. Published for the first time, were residents claims of finding, quote, "a white powder or film in their homes." Sometime after this meeting, the livestock feed program for Saturday, April 20 was canceled until Monday, with no reason given. Residents would be kept out over the weekend as testing continued. Officials now had more pieces to the puzzle of reported smells and symptoms during visits. Chlorine, potassium cressellate, chlorinated compounds, and a white dust. How did they all fit together? Lucinda Hodges now understood the cressellate had something to do with the smells, and perhaps the white dust, and perhaps her symptoms. The people who had livestock in there, she said, some of them went in every single day, or every other day. They had been told it was safe, which she questioned more than ever. As she talked to other victims, Hodges questioned the medical response in general, such as the lack of decontamination. Why they let people go in before they monitored for organic compounds makes no sense to me, she said, when they knew there was an entire tank load on the ground. They were not protecting people's health. I think if the public had known the safety issues, they would have not pushed so hard. We were told it was safe in Almatin, that we were only evacuated in case of chlorine re-entering while they were unloading those tank cars. All the red flags that came up during the evacuation and the agencies ignored them, each one, such as, how come I went home to get my dog, and it smells like weed and feed? Hodges began to question everything and trust no one on the panel. She was not alone. During today's evacuee meeting, Randy Augustine of Alberton told his wife, we're not bringing our kids back to this house, and fear that chemicals had soaked into the wood. The news of these compounds, following days of complaints of odors and illness, reinforced growing fears. According to Smith and the Health Department, the Olympus sampling of the Cresslade sludge was an investigation in response to residents' complaints. But the EPA's Chris Weiss denied any reactionary investigation, noting that the EPA took their own sample of the potassium Cresslade in the ditch on April 14. Weiss, we were aware of those complaints and we were smelling the same thing that they were, so that was an issue from the beginning. But complaints of a pesticide smell had not surfaced by April 14, and the EPA took their sample as basic protocol. Weiss recalled the compounds as, quote, "an unwelcome surprise," but at the evacuee meeting said chlorinated phenols were, quote, "not unexpected." If Weiss had expected a reaction between the Cresslade and the chlorine, a predictable chemistry based on proximity and the reactivity of the spilled chemicals, the lack of hurry to test the EPA sample suggested results were not a particular concern. It was residents' complaints that appeared unexpected. However, on-site contamination by chlorinated compounds should have generated an immediate concern for site workers. If a chemical reaction was not unexpected. When the EPA first had access to the site on April 14, had they immediately expected that a reaction had formed chlorinated compounds? Weiss backtracked. Well, we weren't sure immediately. The proximity of those two substances didn't really strike me until a couple days into the response. Weiss first went to the site, April 15. However, not only did the EPA team sample the ditch on April 14, they also took photos then that clearly showed the proximity of the tanks. There was no evident concern, and the EPA sample was shipped out for non-expedited testing. We already knew what we were going to find, Weiss claimed. If so, the EPA showed no obvious concern over site safety issues for workers. By April 16, everyone was aware of residents' complaints, and the Health Department wanted Smith to test a sample ASAP. Health officials wanted to know now if a reaction had occurred, and if contamination had migrated off-site. And whether this accounted for reports of a pesticide smell and symptoms experienced by people visiting. Resident complaints drove the investigation. With Smith's findings, the Health Department expressed immediate concern. That was what made Smith's news so unwelcome. Weiss originally thought this incident would be over in a few days after his arrival. If so, any samples by the EPA would have been analyzed after residents had returned home. The trigger for Smith's expedited testing came from residents' complaints of odors and symptoms during visits to the exclusion zone. Complaints of exposure. No one had anticipated the exothermic reaction and the possibility of a mixed chemical cloud migration. One of the four criteria for final re-entry became, "Was Albertins safe from chlorinated compounds contamination?" Weiss acknowledged the possibility of migration. "It could have been an aerosol mist," he said. "Or it could even have been sort of an initial explosive dispersion from the initial somewhat violent leaking of chlorine." The wide variety of chlorinated organics that were formed was staggering, he said. Some of those would have vaporized and gone into the air at various concentrations. You can see there's a potential for airborne migration just from the photography that we had relatively early on in the case. You can see fuming chlorine. Referring to a photograph of the train a few hours after the derailment, Weiss said, "It's just covered with aerosol." And that aerosol goes a couple hundred feet away, so it's certainly plausible that it did migrate. "Who knows what happened initially in the first few minutes of that train wreck?" he said. Weiss believed chlorinated compounds were created hours later, and in fact, he said probably days later until the creslate was removed. Smith's thought reactions occurred during the initial spill, but like Weiss, had not considered liquid chlorine mixing directly into the creslate solution. Weiss seemed to envision a mild reaction as ongoing chlorine vapors drifted over the creslate in the ditch or mixed in the creslate tank in the aftermath. That local migration carried heavy compounds, some 250 feet, suggested a more vigorous reaction. Weiss felt the outcome could have been much worse considering the ingredients. If those two cars had like enveloped each other as part of the accident, he said, "I think it would have been a completely different story." If the creslate had poured into the chlorine tank or car, for example, what a mess that would have been. But the proximity of the tanks, the proximity of the tank holds to the ditch and the evidence of iced chlorine under car four, suggested that after the initial flash of chlorine, liquid chlorine dumped into the ditch just as the creslate did, and the pools would have been side by side and mixing. The splatter of chemicals on the tank tops also suggested a vigorous reaction. The chlorination of those compounds would have been exothermic, Weiss said. The mixing of an accident with a fuel source causes exothermic reactions, and the potential is extremely high with chlorine gas. It's the same kind of reaction that occurs when you mix ammonium nitrate with fuel oil, a bomb. Putting chlorine next to potassium creslate didn't seem like a bright idea on a train. A mixture would be violently exothermic, Weiss said. It could be explosive. Yet Weiss believed such a violent interaction had not occurred. Weiss, and I'm not sure why, frankly, except for the fact that the chlorine was extremely cold, minus 30, I think, frankly, they were really lucky that there wasn't a fire there, and I mean more than just a little fire. It would have been like the 4th of July fireworks, right? It certainly could have been a very, very aggressive exothermic reaction, including flames and volatization of chemicals there. In addition to chlorine gas, a big plume, he said, of chemicals would have been released. It was the sort of scenario that some spill victims would come to believe had actually occurred, regardless of evidence of any fire. One resident of Plateau Road reported a quote explosion that rocked our home. Smith's discovery created doubts about the safety of allowing visits and the partial re-entry, and visits were temporarily curtailed. But that weekend, even before data came in, a consensus formed. Weiss, most of the compounds we felt, the heaviest chlorinated compounds, which set aloud close to the site because they were dense and heavier. The lighter fractions, those with less chlorine on them, were volatile, and you could smell them at various places off the outside of the hot zone, certainly, and as far away as Alberton. But they were generally less dangerous than a heavily chlorinated fraction. Even if there had been migration of the types of chemicals that we saw there, it was not likely that they were going to be in high enough concentrations to cause an acute effect, and most likely not high enough to cause any kind of a chronic issue, he said. Despite this consensus, Weiss acknowledged there were a couple of compounds that were of concern to us. We found some chlorinated phenols that you would want to be careful about. They might have been volatile. They would have had some vapor pressure. There were some tri-chlorinated phenols that would have been problematic if they had been in high concentration in soils in people's yards. For now, one of the four criteria for re-entry was to confirm that no significant levels of chlorinated compounds contaminated the Alberton area. The same criteria should have applied to visits and the partial re-entry, but hadn't because of lack of testing. State and local obstruction of the EPA had contributed to that. Over a week after the spill came the first emphatic report that only one chlorine tanker had leaked, releasing 122,000 pounds of liquid chlorine, later updated to 130,000 pounds. The Musullian incorrectly reported that a 90 ton tank in the 1978 Florida spill had lost all its contents, declaring Alberton the second largest chlorine spill in U.S. railroad history. Florida papers in 1978 reported the tank only a 30 ton capacity and that 20 tons initially spilled. The EPA later estimated that 30 tons of a 45 ton tank initially spilled, though eventually the rest was intentionally allowed to vaporize. Either way, Alberton, as of 1996, was the largest chlorine spill in U.S. railroad history. Though unrecognized at the time, in 1996, Alberton was also the largest mixed chemical spill in U.S. railroad history. Next time on Gas, the true story of a toxic trained derailment, we continue looking at the public reaction to news of a chemical reaction between the chlorine and potassium creslate, and a surprise visitor recounts her experience with chlorine exposure. Meanwhile, the techs continue their struggle with the leaky tank car. Until then, this is Ron Scholl. Thanks for listening. This podcast is adapted from the book Gas, the true story of a toxic trained derailment. Visit amazon.com to see the two book series. To access support material in the book, such as maps, photos, illustrations, and video links, visit my Facebook page, Gas, the true story. Or watch my Gas playlist on my YouTube channel at R.L. Scholl. [MUSIC PLAYING] (dramatic music) [BLANK_AUDIO]
