04-21-2011, 05:16 PM
I'm sure most have seen the news about the evacuation of 265 homes for the day in order to deal with an HCl spill. What I'm hoping for here is some enlightenment on an interesting an perplexing issue.
Authorities keep telling us that they don;t know how much acid was in the tanker, which I find not only odd, but deliberately misleading:
1. I was under the impression that the shipping of hazardous materials required specific documentation.
2. The capacity of the tanker is known, and the experts have stated that the leak was approximately 75 gallons. If they can be that specific, they must have an expert estimate on the amount still in the tanker.
3. The tanker was pumped out into another tanker. I'm no rocket scientist, but if I know the capacity of the pump in gallons/minute and how long it took the pump to empty the tanker, I'll bet I can figure out how much acid that car was carrying.
Anyone with practical railroading experience want to enlighten me?
Authorities keep telling us that they don;t know how much acid was in the tanker, which I find not only odd, but deliberately misleading:
1. I was under the impression that the shipping of hazardous materials required specific documentation.
2. The capacity of the tanker is known, and the experts have stated that the leak was approximately 75 gallons. If they can be that specific, they must have an expert estimate on the amount still in the tanker.
3. The tanker was pumped out into another tanker. I'm no rocket scientist, but if I know the capacity of the pump in gallons/minute and how long it took the pump to empty the tanker, I'll bet I can figure out how much acid that car was carrying.
Anyone with practical railroading experience want to enlighten me?