Expired chemicals found at U of A were detonated 2 months after being found
CBC
Two big bangs that shook people living in central Edmonton last fall were the culmination of concerted efforts to figure out how to destroy bottles of expired, potentially explosive chemicals discovered two months earlier in a University of Alberta lab.
The Edmonton Police Service's bomb squad was called on to destroy bottles of peroxide-forming chemicals — isopropyl ether and 1,4 dioxane — during two detonations in Hawrelak Park on Nov. 27, 2021.
When expired, these chemicals crystallize and become unstable. The slightest disturbance can cause them to explode.
Emails among U of A staff suggest that the location of the chemicals and their instability made it complicated to devise a disposal plan. Once a plan was developed, it took several weeks to carry it out.
The chemicals' disposal required careful co-ordination between the university, Edmonton police and city officials. Police even consulted with the United States' Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
"These consultations were done to ensure this advanced and controlled disposal was done in the safest manner possible, with no impacts to the residents, environment or wildlife," an Edmonton Police Service spokesperson said in an email.
Edmontonians first learned of the Saturday morning detonation in a middle-of-the-night advisory that city police posted on social media. It advised residents the park would be closed.
But the expired chemicals had actually been found two months earlier, on Sept. 28, during a regular lab inspection conducted by university health, safety and environment staff, according to documents obtained by CBC News through a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) request.
The documents show inspectors found "numerous serious safety violations in the laboratory," including an expired four-litre bottle of isopropyl ether and other peroxide-forming chemicals in which explosive crystals had developed.
"This is a significant hazard that will require the assistance of external resources to dispose of safely," documents say.
Chemical disposal is a normal occurrence in all labs. The federal Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act classifies various substances and describes how to dispose of them properly.
The U of A's health, safety and environment team determines what is needed for each hazard, and how to minimize potential risk to the environment, staff and the public, university spokesperson Jennifer Crosby said.
In this case, outside help was required, the spokesperson added.
Detonations, however, are rare, said Simon Trudel, a University of Calgary associate professor of chemistry and the department's associate head of health and safety.
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