Report from Delaware Riverkeeper Network as of August 15, 2022
What: Venting into the air of Lubrizol 1389, a product manufactured by Lubrizol Corporation. Lubrizol 1389 is Zinc Dialkyl Dithiophosphate (ZDDP), a lubricant additive.
When: 3:07pm on Wednesday, August 10 an odor was reported, the odor spread throughout much of south Jersey and lasted for days. The incident was reported both to local officials and to NJDEP by the public. 3:30pm is when NJDEP reports the incident occurring and the first reports to NJDEP were recorded at 4:44pm. The incident is not fully resolved as of Monday, August 15.
Where: TA Truck Stop and Gas/Service Station, East Greenwich Township, Gloucester County, NJ. Actual address: 171 BERKLEY RD, PAULSBORO, NJ 08066
Conditions: Sunny, dry, 100 degrees F at the time of the odor report.
HOTLINES available now on this incident:
Gloucester County Office of Emergency Management call center for questions about the incident: (856) 384-6800, open from 8am to 4pm. It remains open as of August 10 – phone number is 856-384-6800. Since they are still offloading the contents of the tanker, the hotline will remain open until the incident is resolved.
The other two hotlines are from the tanker company, TransChem USA, operated by their consulting firm, CTEH. For environmental and health related questions: (856) 807-5388. For insurance claims: (855) 476-7817.
The Story from what we know at this time: At 3:07pm on August 10, Gloucester County dispatch received 911 calls about the odor. At 3:20pm, several truckers parked at Travel Center Truck Stop on Berkley Road in East Greenwich Township noticed that the smell was coming from a parked tanker truck owned by TransChem USA. The truckers also called 911 that led to the police, firefighters, and the Gloucester County Office of Emergency Management and HAZMAT arriving at the scene at 3:27pm. They found that the tanker was hauling 7,000 gallons of Lubrizol and was venting the chemical into the air every few minutes. There was never a liquid spill.
NJDEP also received calls about the odor from residents, as shown in the reports Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN) received from NJDEP through an Open Records Act (OPRA) request. DRN is sharing the NJDEP files, received from NJDEP today, here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. Please note that the email files look voluminous but much if it is repeated entries of the same reports; we are posting these as they came to us from NJDEP.
Residents in the area reported headaches, feeling nauseous, and expressed worries about the emissions that were causing the noxious odor to NJDEP.
At first, responders seemed to think that the tanker is designed to vent pressure every few minutes as a safety failsafe when temperatures reach a certain level to prevent too much pressure from building up inside and causing an explosion. However, as the problem was addressed, NJDEP files seem to show that the vent was broken and a filter was attached to filter the emissions being vented. Also, a “chemical reaction” within the tanker was suspected and the truck is still being monitored for that. More details are in the NJDEP records. The contents of the tanker are still being slowly decanted into another container at the truck stop as of Monday, August 10. The truck pulling the tanker has been approved for transit. The TA Truck Stop is still closed as of Monday, August 15.
It is reported in the NJDEP files that air monitoring was being conducted by a consulting firm for the tanker company, TransChem USA – see notes below. One potential problem with this is that a private consulting company is not subject to OPRA. DRN will be trying to get the sample results from the air monitoring to share publicly. Why wasn’t NJ Dept. of Health called in to monitor the air? Those results would be publicly retrievable and it would not have been a private company employed by the chemical company collecting the air samples. The consulting firm works for the company that seems to be the party responsible for this hazardous air incident. This appears to be a potential conflict of interest or, at the least, a possible removal from the public of the full story about what was released into the air during this incident. DRN will be pursuing these data results.
Also, one report says that there was one air monitor result that recorded an exceedance of air quality standards – see notes below.
The incident caused a shelter-in-place directive Wednesday night for East Greenwich, Gibbstown, Paulsboro, and areas near the truck stop on Berkley Road, which was lifted after about two hours. The Gloucester County Health Department set up the live call center. The NJDEP and EPA, Gloucester County Office of Emergency Management, Camden County Office of Emergency Management, responded to the scene. This is the latest (most recent) report DRN received from NJDEP through our OPRA request:
Location: TA Travel Center, Berkley Rd., Paulsboro, Gloucester County
Case #: 22-08-10-1644-54
Date: Saturday, August 13, 2022, 3:00 PM
SITREP 7
The situation at the TA Travel Center is ongoing and operations will continue through the weekend.
Air monitoring continues onsite and off-site – there continue to be no readings detected off-site.
The TA Travel Center remains closed. All other businesses have reopened/resumed normal operations.
The tanker is being evaluated to assess whether the chemical reaction inside the tanker has finished before making repairs to the pressure relief device.
The material in the tanker will be reclassified as a hazardous waste. DEP EM is connecting the Responsible Party and spill broker with DEP Hazardous Waste Enforcement.
The truck pulling the tanker has been inspected and cleared for transit. The additional personnel from the contractor, CTEH, arrived last night and are supporting air monitoring operations. The toxicologists have been onsite, spoken with Unified Command, and are visiting residences in affected communities.
Tanker Odor Release Hotlines have been set up by CTEH:
For environmental and health related questions, the phone number is (856) 807-5388.
For insurance claims, the phone number is (855) 476-7817.
Gloucester County’s call center remains open – phone number is 856-384-6800.
There have been no injuries or evacuations reported.
There will be a Facebook Live stream broadcast on Sunday at 5PM (Bob Van Fossen is coordinating with Kelley Heck and Larry Hajna).
Operations continue to be closely monitored.
DEP EM remains on scene with local, County, State and Federal responders and as a member of Unified Command.
Next SitRep at 3PM Sunday.
What is Lubrizol and is it toxic, does it have adverse health effects?
This is what we know, although it is not all there is to know, there are unanswered questions. As we get more information through our investigations, we will share them on DRN’s website.
Lubrizol 1389, or Zinc Dialkyl Dithiophosphate (ZDDP), is a lubricant additive used to increase the life of motor oil. ZDDPs exhibit low acute toxicity via oral, dermal, and inhalation routes of exposure with health effects including skin and eye irritation and headaches. Long-term effects from inhalation are largely unknown. Based on available environmental fate and ecotoxicological data for daphnids, fish, and algae, they are considered to be toxic to aquatic wildlife with long lasting effects. ZDDPs are not readily biodegradable and they have not been tested in carcinogenicity studies. There is not a company fact sheet or Material Data Safety Sheet (MSDS) sheet for Lubrizol 1389, but there is one for Lubrizol 1395, which is in the same ZDDP family. According to that fact sheet, the chemical should be stored between 45 and 113 degrees Fahrenheit. The flash point (temperature at which it begins giving off an ignitable vapor) is about 214 degrees Fahrenheit.
If heated to decomposition, at 421 degrees Fahrenheit, zinc alkyldithophosphate can burn off toxic hydrogen sulfide. It also will give off aklyl mercaptans, the compound added to natural gas to smell like sulfur. Lubrizol 1395 is toxic to marine life, and classified as an environmentally hazardous substance by the United Nations. Two big fires at Lubrizol plants have made news in recent years: the first was in France, in 2019. In 2021, a Lubrizol-owned chemical plant in Rockton, Ill. caught fire and the EPA issued several pollution violations. And in 2021, a Houston mother sued the company after a chemical plant leak left her and her daughters with long-lasting symptoms like wheezing, headaches, and stomachaches.
Here are some other notable excerpts from the OPRA records:
The material in the tanker will be reclassified as a hazardous waste. DEP EM is connecting the Responsible Party and spill broker with DEP Hazardous Waste Enforcement.(Highlighted emphasis added throughout)
The truck pulling the tanker has been inspected and cleared for transit.
The additional personnel from the contractor, CTEH, arrived last night and are supporting air monitoring operations. The toxicologists have been onsite, spoken with Unified Command, and are visiting residences in affected communities.
There have been no injuries or evacuations reported.
Operations continue to be closely monitored.
DEP EM remains on scene with local, County, State and Federal responders and as a member of Unified Command.
Next SitRep at 3PM Sunday.
Email from the NJDEP records re. release of pollutant off the site:
From:Kast, Todd [DEP]
Sent:Saturday, August 13, 2022 5:39 PM
Subject:RE: SitRep 7: Truck Tanker Air Release, TA Travel Center, Paulsboro, Gloucester County [22-08-10-1644-54] PRD successfully changed out at 1725 hrs.
EPA recorded one small blip of 0.4 ppm of methyl mercaptan at front gate area. No other elevated readings.
DRN Note: methyl mercaptan is a known toxic. “Exposure to Methyl Mercaptan can cause headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, muscle weakness and loss of coordination. Higher levels can cause loss of consciousness and death. * Methyl Mercaptan may damage the liver and kidneys. Repeated exposure may affect the blood cells causing anemia.” (from NJ Department of Health) “Mercaptan is indeed a toxic gas and flammable. At high levels, it affects the nervous system. At all times, the odorant must be appropriately handled.” (from https://www.gasodorizer.com/mercaptan-inject-natural-gas/)
For more info see: NJ Dept. of Health Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet at https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwip0Yqfksr5AhW0jYkEHU4yDlIQFnoECAwQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnj.gov%2Fhealth%2Feoh%2Frtkweb%2Fdocuments%2Ffs%2F1275.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0vzZ2cy4DO_ysIdfaQxH46
This concludes what we have gathered as of August 15, 2022.