Serious anhydrous mishap prompts warning

Bloomington, Ill.-Anhydrous ammonia users are being reminded to pay strict attention to rules of safety after a Greene County farmer was hospitalized due to an ammonia incident that nearly took his life. He was driving his tractor and pulling two 2,000-gallon tanks through a field near Carrollton on April 11 when fumes started spreading his way. Apparently the fumes escaped when one of the tractor’s tires ran over a hose. The farmer’s son and nephew quickly got him out of the area and to the hospital. The two rescuers also needed treatment. “When you consider how many ammonia connections are made from the beginning point at the ammonia terminal where cargo tanks are loaded to the final application of the product from nurse tanks, there is potential for release if hose connections are not made properly and carefully each time,” cautioned Kevin Runkle, manager of regulatory services for the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Assn. (IFCA). Temperature changes, too, can lead to leaks because of pressure shifts within tanks. “If you fill a nurse tank up in the morning when it’s in the 50s, and then it gets to be 80 to 85 in the afternoon, that causes the pressure to increase, which is why it’s so important to not fill tanks beyond 85 degrees,” Runkle advised. The IFCA and the Illinois Department of Agriculture last year teamed up to create a 12-minute video outlining safety measures associated with anhydrous ammonia. Suggestions include not driving more than 25 mph while towing nurse tanks, not having more than three connected vehicles carrying the tanks, and ensuring that a safety chain is in place. “It’s a continuing educational process with anybody, whether it’s [agriculture] retailers or farmers,” Runkle said. Anhydrous ammonia is also a key ingredient in making methamphetamine. Although new laws to stem the sale of over-the-counter pseudophedrine have helped, the theft of anhydrous to make the illegal drug is still a major cause of ammonia releases in Illinois, Runkle said.