Equipment Malfunction Blamed in Toxic Release
A malfunction in a waste water treatment system was blamed Thursday for creating a toxic cloud that injured four workers and forced the evacuation of 900 others at Los Angeles International Airport.
The chemical cloud in a plating shop at the Continental Airlines hangar at the airport was reported at 8:14 p.m. Wednesday, Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said. “There was a malfunction in the waste water treatment system,” said Irwin Biederman, a civilian hazardous materials specialist with the county Fire Department’s hazardous materials control program.
The plating operation uses cyanide, which must be removed from the water before the liquid can be disposed of, he said. Something went wrong in that treatment process, which uses chlorine bleach to oxidize the toxic material, he said.
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