All four workers who were exposed to nitric acid at the Anniston Army Depot in an incident last week have returned to work, Army officials say.
The workers were exposed to nitric acid vapors July 30 while the acid was being removed from a vat inside a building and transferred to a truck outside.
Depot emergency and HAZMAT officials were called to the scene, which was inside the Nichols Industrial Complex, and the leak was contained.
Local emergency management officials were not notified about the incident because the accident was contained within the boundaries of the depot, officials said.
"This is normal industrial operations," said Joan Gustafson, public affairs officer at the depot. "We've had them occur before and they didn't present any danger to the work force or the public. This is part of normal day-to-day operations."
Ms. Gustafson said the depot is equipped to handle such incidents and such incidents are not common.
The accident had nothing to do with the chemical weapons incinerator.
"Absolutely not," Ms. Gustafson said. "This is on the industrial side of the depot."
She said the workers who might have been exposed to nitric acid vapors were taken to Regional Medical Center as a precautionary measure.
While the depot maintains its own medical staff, Ms. Gustafson said the doctor assigned to the shift was on leave at the time of the accident. Otherwise, the workers would most likely have been treated at the depot, she said.
"We thought they may have been exposed, but the only reason they were taken was because our doctor was not on-station," Ms. Gustafson said.
Col. Aaron B. Hayes, who is leaving the depot to take another military post, learned of the incident Wednesday morning.
"Normally, he is briefed immediately when these situations happen," Ms. Gustafson said.
She said further details will be released after an investigation is completed, which could be as early as next week.
"Whatever we find,"
she said, "steps will be taken to preclude it from happening again."
In a prepared statement, Army officials released a few more details about the incident.
Leaking nitric acid was discovered at 2 p.m. on July 30 in the plating shop at the depot. Workers tried to repair the leaking vats, but the acid had to be removed from the vats so they could be repaired.
A specialized contractor was called in, and the acid removal went into the night.
The workers who went to the hospital may have exposed on their way to work, Ms. Gustafson said.
Nitric acid is used at the depot to clean metal plates for refurbishing older military vehicles.
The acid is used in anodizing, chromate conversion and nickel stripping, which are all standard industrial processes, according to the press release.
Ms. Gustafson said nitric acid has been used at the depot in routine processes since at least the mid-1980s.
According to the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, nitric acid is poisonous and highly corrosive. It can emit fumes that choke in certain types of air.
The Calhoun County Commission accused the Army of failing to notify proper authorities about the leak.
If accidents such as the one that occurred at the depot should happen again, public officials or the local emergency management agency should be notified, commissioners said.
"If it is something we need to know about, then let's all work together," said Randy Wood, Calhoun County Commission chairman. "We're all in this for the safety of the people and that's what I'm getting at."
Commissioner Lea Fite said that the public should have been notified about the accident.
"In any business or industry, accidents are going to happen," Fite said. "I think they do an excellent job at the depot. Where I fall out with them is I think they should have contacted the local authorities along with the newspaper when it happened."
