Walsh, Colo. — Approximately 60 to 70 residents of this small southeastern agriculture town were evacuated Feb. 8 for at least six hours while hazmat teams worked to seal off a leaking tank that came off a trailer being pulled by a pickup truck and released about 800 gallons of anhydrous ammonia. “The front axle came out from under the trailer and put the tank into the pavement,” explained Colorado Emergency Management spokesman Riley Frazee. “That busted off the fill nozzle and the overflow valve and released a large plume.” The hazmat team couldn’t get a valve replacement and so resorted to a makeshift plug to plug up the opening in the ammonia tank. In the meantime, a fire department pumper truck was used to spread 700 gallons of water a minute in an effort to disperse the ammonia plume. Frazee said the tank owner had to bring in a reverse pump to suck water out of the ditches and put it into a trailer. “But the water still created a cleanup problem, and they’ll have to come back and do monitoring of the soil,” Frazee reported. He said the contaminated soil will probably have to be removed and replaced with clean fill. The incident occurred on the south side of the town, and unfavorable winds blew south to north into the residential area. A school about 10 miles west was designated as an evacuation center but no one used it, preferring to stay with relatives or friends outside the plume area. The all-clear was given about six hours later, around 2 p.m. No road closures were required because traffic was not a problem.
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