Six county fire crews respond to monitor situation
Morgan Hill – A hazardous chemical reaction at a local manufacturer of toxic substances caused a plume of gas and resin that rose 40 feet in the air and damaged some cars in the parking lot.
The incident Thursday afternoon sent employees of Andpak, Inc., home early while firefighters monitored the reaction of the chemicals.
No one was injured in the incident.
According to Santa Clara County Fire Department spokesman Tom Walsh, the 3:25pm call came from the company, located on Jarvis Drive near Butterfield Boulevard in an industrial park.
The company makes epoxy resin, a sealant sold in two parts mixed together when used. When the two parts mix, the product hardens, Walsh explained.
On Thursday, approximately 40 gallons of one of the sealant portions in a 55-gallon drum was inadvertently mixed with a small amount of the other chemical, Walsh said.
“It started heating up, and, luckily, they were able to get the drum outside to the back loading dock area,” Walsh said.
Fortunately, the drum was not sealed so the pressure did not build up, he added.
“It put up a plume of gas and resin that rose maybe 40 feet in the air and damaged some of the cars in the parking lot,” he said.
Walsh said when the five fire department crews and one South County fire crew arrived, they isolated the area with the assistance of the Morgan Hill Police Department, keeping people away but not evacuating surrounding buildings. A hazardous materials crew from Cupertino also responded to the scene.
“We pretty much just let this thing react, hoping the temperature would stabilize,” Walsh said.
Using a thermal imaging camera, crews monitored the temperature, which stabilized. Once the reaction seemed to have run its course, Walsh said, Andpak employees called in a third-party contractor to transport the materials to a hazardous waste facility, first packing the drum into an overpack drum with dry ice surrounding the inner drum.
Crews began leaving the scene at approximately 5:20pm, Walsh said. Employees of businesses closest to Andpak were asked to delay their departure for a little while, Walsh said, but then were allowed to leave their buildings.
Walsh said one Ankpak employee was checked at the scene by paramedics but did not need treatment.
Andpak Vice President Chuck Pottier said Friday the company has a “very good safety record.”
But no record is perfect, he added, saying the incident gave the company an opportunity to raise awareness among employees.
“We have made some corrective action,” he said. “This is the first time this has happened. It was human error, and we are changing the process … It’s fortunate that this happened this way.”
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at
md****@mo*************.com.
