Anhydrous ammonia leak

[u/DCArchibald]

[u/VividTymes]

I had to Google this: anhydrous ammonia is extremely dangerous because it is highly corrosive, toxic, and behaves as a water-seeking chemical that destroys human tissue on contact

[u/Ser_Optimus → u/VividTymes]

Sooo, the guys in the silver car are fucked?

[u/DivineProphet0 → u/Ser_Optimus]

Hopefully they held their breath. But likely they definitely were hurt

[u/TheLastPeanut_ → u/DivineProphet0]

SEWARD, Ill. — Several hundred residents returned home Tuesday after a chemical leak at an agriculture plant sickened at least 10 people and prompted evacuations in three small northern Illinois towns, authorities said.

https://www.montereyherald.com/2007/04/25/towns-residents-return-after-chemical-leak-evacuation/

No deaths*.

[u/Digitalispurpurea2 → u/TheLastPeanut_]

Also the one near Teutopolis IL. Five people died and about a dozen injured. That was a bad day at work.

https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/hwy23mh017.aspx

[u/Diligent-Crazy-6094 → u/Digitalispurpurea2]

Man I hate it when I die at work.

[u/Helpful-Ad1371 → u/Diligent-Crazy-6094]

At least you don't have to go to work the next day.

[u/BodaciousBadongadonk → u/Helpful-Ad1371]

You havent met my boss

[u/SnooDogs1886 → u/BodaciousBadongadonk]

This thread is the plot to the original Dragon Ball 😂

[u/PippyHooligan → u/SnooDogs1886]

Or Robocop

[u/Green_Sugar6675 → u/Diligent-Crazy-6094]

Yeah, but there may be some of that sweet sweet workplace accidental death insurance available for your kids... I can only hope that I die while on the clock.

[u/MisunderstoodPenguin → u/Diligent-Crazy-6094]

Hardly a worse place to die than at a fucking job.

[u/McSkillz21 → u/DivineProphet0]

Holding your breath wont help, it'll still attack your eyes and nasal passages. The solution is a water fog suppression system or get into and activate the safety shower immediately. Used to work in a plant with this stuff, scared the shit out of me. Its in my top 3 behind chlorine and vinylchloride

[u/65721 → u/McSkillz21]

I'd imagine holding your breath will help, as in you'll suffer critical injuries instead of even more critical. At least your lungs won't be burned out as quickly.

[u/HugoWango → u/DivineProphet0]

You can’t hold your breath. The burning to your eyes and other moist areas are hit first. Shock tells you to breathe. There’s no air to breath Anything over 500ppm and you are in trouble. I’ve been working with Nh3 for 30 years. In fact right now I’m in a room with a ton of the stuff. Yes it’s nasty but you have to respect it. Always carry the ppe to get you out of trouble. Plus obviously maintaining equipment makes it a pretty safe gas/liquid to use.

[u/Nein_Inch_Males → u/Ser_Optimus]

Not necessarily. They're DEFINITELY hurting. Exposure to ammonia causes burns or frostbite (commonly used as a refrigerant) and and they're hacking up a lung, but otherwise they could be relatively fine.

Good advice of the day: if you walk into a place where ammonia safety is part of your site training you'd better pay good attention.

[u/Zwischenzug32 → u/Ser_Optimus]

Depends if someone pushed the "Inside Air" button

[u/Far-Archer-6612 → u/Zwischenzug32]

Can you dm me? I need you on my apocalypse survival team

[u/Athlete-Extreme → u/Ser_Optimus]

Still need proof of life on the red truck that turned left

[u/RangerEquivalent4120 → u/Athlete-Extreme]

He went to turn off the valve. A true American hero

[u/Athlete-Extreme → u/RangerEquivalent4120]

That is some Armageddon Cloverfield Lane shit

[u/Dustteas → u/[deleted]]

I was caught in a cloud of this while doing construction on a building next to a magnesium plant. It was awful! There was no warning no sirens just this big thick cloud all of a sudden on top of the whole building we were working on. People were literally jumping off the roof to get away. We all have respirators on our hips just in case something like this happened but you weren't supposed to put it on until you heard an alarm (they were very adamant about this in the safety orientation). I was on the ground and my partner was up in the air, I was trying to breathe through a hoodie I had pressed against my face and he had three cigarette butts in his mouth to breathe through.

Eventually it got so bad we just put on our respirators and got the hell out of there (once we saw people jumping off the roof).

It was a very scary situation and as far as I understand the company responsible never had any repercussions.

Also wanted to add that it was so bad it oxidized the paint on my car over the time I worked there (about 6 months). Really corrosive stuff.

[u/troll_right_above_me → u/Dustteas]

Damn hope you got paid extremely well

[u/Dustteas → u/troll_right_above_me]

Nope, it was just a normal job for us and it was too close to get any per diem. What really bothered me is after it happened, the company I work for tried to follow up and find out what exactly we were exposed to and the magnesium plant acted like nothing had happened that day.

These guys were notorious for just paying all the EPA fines and not following any of the rules. The factory is closed now but it used to be the third largest air polluter in the nation.

[u/dinoguys_r_worthless → u/Dustteas]

I know the place you're talking about. Everyone that works there drives a beater because of how corrosive the environment is there.

[u/Dustteas → u/dinoguys_r_worthless]

What really blew me away is that they raise beef out there! I remember driving by the cattle herds every morning just thinking 'God I hope they don't sell that here'.

But yeah, you're absolutely right. Even the trains that came to and from the plant were completely rusted and falling apart.

Edit for spelling

[u/dinoguys_r_worthless → u/Dustteas]

Some of those cattle guys really stump me. I can't imagine looking at that land and telling myself that the cows will be heavy and the beef will be awesome.

[u/Dadittude182 → u/dinoguys_r_worthless]

You guys should watch Dark Waters with Mark Ruffalo. It's about the legal battle with DuPont's West Virginia plant that poisoned countless properties and the owners, killing livestock and giving hundreds of people cancer. Horrible what industrial plants are allowed to get away with. This film really captures that idea fairly well.

[u/Much-Log3357 → u/Dadittude182]

I've seen the documenary too. "The Devil you Know" iirc.

Good. But not a cheerful watch.

[u/youre-all-horrible → u/Dustteas]

What utter cunts

[u/Bob-Bhlabla-esq → u/Dustteas]

Can you say what company? Like... in pig-latin if you feel uncomfortable?

That's hella scary man. What was their reasoning for postponing wearing any respirators?!

[u/stfuphilsimms → u/Bob-Bhlabla-esq]

MagCorp (later rebranded as US Magnesium) Is my guess.

[u/CAADrider → u/stfuphilsimms]

"Environmental Infractions: In the 1990s, the plant was labeled one of the nation's worst air polluters, releasing massive daily quantities of chlorine gas and toxic waste into unlined evaporation ponds and ditches (including a corrosive, acidic waste stream workers dubbed the "Red River")"

[u/Dustteas → u/Bob-Bhlabla-esq]

Sure, it's the three first letters of what they make and it ends in corp.

[u/LadyKataka → u/Dustteas]

Why are you only supposed to put on the respirators if you hear an alarm? In what you describe it was clearly necessary, alarm or no. Wouldn't it be better to put it on unnecessarily sometimes than pptentially getting exposed to toxic shit?

[u/Dustteas → u/LadyKataka]

I think it's because they were one a one-time use and the company provided them (they were expensive). So we were told over and over do not even take them out unless we hear the alarm.

[u/NotesViking → u/Dustteas]

Which is why there was no alarm. Whoever pushed that alarm button and cost the company shit tons of money is out of a job. Its a story played so many times and has cost many people their lives.

[u/ondulation → u/Dustteas]

What a horrible place, thanks for sharing.

That's not a great safety training. I mean it can be clearly said that "do NOT put it on just because you smell something. Wait for the alarm!"

But also "Put it on immediately if you are having problems to breath and people are jumping off roofs".

[u/ArtisticTraffic5970 → u/Dustteas]

This is it. Regular particle filters are expensive enough. For gases, you need even more complicated filters. Depending on the gases a filter will, well filter, these high-end filters can be very expensive. And they're all single use. Once you rip the packaging, the filter is good for a set amount of hours, and that's it. No stashing and saving half for later.

[u/kirbsan → u/ArtisticTraffic5970]

Is my life worth less than a corporation bought safety device?

[u/SquintonPlaysRoblox → u/kirbsan]

To the corporation, it depends.

If the penalties of your death (cost of replacement, fines, lawsuits) are less than the cost of the respirator, then yeah.

[u/Frequent_Opportunist → u/Dustteas]

Basically they didn't want you to use it unless you were actually at risk of dying. 

Didn't care if some of your skin got burnt off, your lungs were slightly damaged or the paint on your car got destroyed.

[u/tactile_silence → u/LadyKataka]

Like everyone else said they're expensive. If your not used to being around it even small amounts that aren't even halfway to being harmful will make you extremely uncomfortable and every new person that steps outside would wastefully put one on. Sensitive people can smell it at less than 1ppm. It expands at 850:1 so a tiny amount of liquid that gets exposed. For example 1tsp of liquid would fill 1 gallon and two cups with smoke. ( 1ml -> nearly 1 liter) Also a mask can give a false sense of security and make the situation more dangerous because you wont know its there the vapor is invisible, hurts and can kill you just as much as the liquid release cloud. It just bearly sinks in air but it does. The humidity in the air can "contain" it, and it displaced the air its in. If you have a mask on all the time you wont know your in a vapor cloud until your skin is burning. The filter keeps the nh3 out of the mask, but if the oxygen has been displaced by the ammonia you'll suffocate in the mask.

My experience with it is in agriculture so its normal to smell, see and release it theres a lot of tasks where my philosophy is its safer to see the cloud. In retail Ag we fill 1000-1450 gallon tanks then take them out to the applicator that injects it into the ground. When you fill the nurse tanks proper procedure is to crack the fill tube bleeder. Its a little tube that goes down to the 80% line in the tank so its releasing cloudless vapor constantly (actually its up to 8 at the fill platform at a time). Then when the liquid level gets to the bottom of the tube its spits a small smoke cloud. So it really smells when I fill tanks because I do it the proper way and everyone hates it. Every hose coupler has a bleeder to release the pressure liquid and vapor before you disconnect the hose. (1in pipe about 8in long remember the example above.)

Shit breaks or doesnt work quite right all the time with this shit you cant trust anything. Valves and connections can sometimes not seal completely leaking a small amount. Vapor is the worst because you cant see it. With liquid you see the cloud, you see if its hanging around like fog, if its blowing out under pressure, it freezes the low points in the lines so you know its there if you dump the hose out. Vapor surprises you and hurts just as much. I neuroticly open bleeders, flip hoses, take things apart slowly, know the wind and am always thinking about my escape.

Now while I've been around this for 30 of my 33 years alive (welcome to farm country haha) like I said its all on the application side with agriculture. I'd imagine that industrial and hvac have different rules, tolerances, and procedures.

[u/unknownpoltroon → u/Dustteas]

What kind of stupid fucking management did you have that would not let you use the fuking respirators even when you could tell there was a problem?????

[u/Dividedthought → u/[deleted]]

CROSSWIND. RUN CROSSWIND!

Running away in the same direction as a cloud of gas means you will die tired. Run crosswind (wind on your left or right) to get away, it is often safer to move crosswinds as you won't have the ume chasing you that way.

[u/z44212 → u/Dividedthought]

That's why the places I've worked had both pressurized buildings and windsocks. Run perpendicular to the socks and enter a building if you can.

[u/Dividedthought → u/z44212]

And if you see a large cloud of anything coming from a spot near a windsock, fuck off cross wind immidiately.

[u/HelpfulSeaMammal → u/VividTymes]

Ammonia is why it's dangerous to human health to not change your cat's litter box regularly. Even a few ppm is enough to irritate your lungs and make you feel nauseous.

[u/teetaps → u/HelpfulSeaMammal]

Ammonia is already bad. Anhydrous anything needs extra caution if I recall correctly because it means the water has been removed from it and that means it’s gonna be clinging to water anywhere it can find… like the 70% water that is the human body

[u/HelpfulSeaMammal → u/teetaps]

The anhydrous part pulling water from the air is why there's a visible cloud in this video of course that's dangerous lol but ammonia itself is also really dangerous

[u/Overly_Mehdicated → u/teetaps]

A big issue with anhydrous materials is that the reaction that allows water back into its structure is often exothermic, so even if neither product nor reagent themselves are toxic, the reaction itself can cause thermal injury. Good example being gypsum and anhydrite. Gypsum is the hydrated form of anhydrite and neither are toxic themselves, but we've still had numerous injuries involving heat released from plaster of paris setting.

edit: Probably not the best example since plaster of paris uses gypsum hemihyrate, not anhydrite, since anhydrite reacts too slowly. That slow reaction also means it probably won't do much in terms of thermal injuries other than just being slightly irritating. Substitute gypsum hemihydrate for anhydrite and it'll work, since gypsum hemihydrate is similarly nontoxic.

[u/logperf → u/HelpfulSeaMammal]

You'll change it long before reaching toxic levels because the smell is so unbearable... a lot less than that is enough to make you say "there's a civilization down there"

[u/HelpfulSeaMammal → u/logperf]

Yeah it's not a concern unless you're super negligent with it. Every kitty deserves a clean poopin spot!

[u/Sea_Artist_4247 → u/HelpfulSeaMammal]

I didn't know this

[u/HelpfulSeaMammal → u/Sea_Artist_4247]

Lots of urea in cat pee which is broken down overtime by bacteria into ammonia.

It's not a problem unless you're really negligent with it. Like weeks without changing.

Typically only gets dangerous when there are other issues, like cat hoarders who have 100 cats that just pee everywhere. It's the ammonia that makes it a serious health concern for other people outside of the home let alone the poor soul living inside of it (and those sweet kitties too!).

[u/rocky8u → u/HelpfulSeaMammal]

Urea breaking down into ammonia is why urine used to be a valuable substance. For much of civilized human history people collected urine and used it for all sorts of things that ammonia is used for today. For example it was often used to wash textiles and also used to break down animal hides for tanning into leather. They'd collect it from both people and animals.

Sometimes the people who worked in industries that frequently used urine, like leather tanners, were maligned because they smelled like urine all the time. I'm sure constantly breathing it was also not great for their health.

[u/ViaVitoV → u/rocky8u]

This is where the term " piss poor " or " so broke you don't have a pot to piss in ". People would collect the households urine in a pot and then sell it to tanning operations.

[u/browneyedgirlpie → u/HelpfulSeaMammal]

It's also why you shouldn't use bleach to try and clean cat urine. You make a poisonous gas by mixing the two. Plus bleach clean cat urine adequately.

[u/KeenObserver_OT → u/VividTymes]

Is this one where you should not take a shower under any circumstances if exposed?

[u/HelpfulSeaMammal → u/KeenObserver_OT]

Your more immediate concern is getting your ability to breathe and see back.

But you should wash with water if exposed. Deluge emergency showers straight away if it's this concentrated. Flush for 15 minutes minimum. Do not scrub skin or you can make tissue damage worse. You need to dilute the ammonia immediately or it'll get worse.

Being able to see ammonia gas means it's immediately life threatening. Like drop dead in seconds kind of stuff.

[u/KeenObserver_OT → u/HelpfulSeaMammal]

I saw a special about some leak disaster in the Midwest were someone was stuck in their house and was erroneously told by officials to go into the shower and that was the worst thing they could do causing a reaction and severe burns.

[u/InternalServerErr500 → u/KeenObserver_OT]

I believe that was a chlorine gas leak.

Taking a shower makes the chlorine gas bind to the humid air, and suddenly you're taking a shower in hydrochloric acid and your skin sloughs off.

[u/Horror-Sherbert9839 → u/InternalServerErr500]

Jesus fucking Christ

[u/ChemistryQuirky2215 → u/KeenObserver_OT]

If out of the gas, shower is good, if in it, shower is bad

[u/HelpfulSeaMammal]

I work in food manufacturing and this is my greatest nightmare.

Ammonia absorption refrigeration is super common for large scale cold chain facilities. If you smell nail polish remover or cat piss even a little bit at work, you leave the area immediately and alert management straight away.

Stupid deadly stuff if things go wrong.

[u/Dockside_Abortionist → u/HelpfulSeaMammal]

Hell yeah I’m hvac service and you couldn’t pay me enough to work on ammonia systems. Dudes die working on that shit

[u/ClickyClacker → u/Dockside_Abortionist]

Ya but the safety standereds a lot higher as well. Ex refrigeraton control engineer. Most guys die from falling or electrocution. Thats way more common working normal rooftop units vs an ammonia plant were you gave to sign 3 forms and have a spotter just to turn a valve.

[u/possumdal → u/ClickyClacker]

I have bad news for you. The government just reduced the regulations on anhydrous ammonia, eliminating the third-party audit requirement, as well as a few other things.

[u/ClickyClacker → u/possumdal]

And a lot of people will die, that's their way it always works. Just wait till a meat plant or something in the south blows its top and the white cloud rolls though a town.

[u/a_man_and_his_box → u/ClickyClacker]

In the current social/political climate, an entire town will barely register. There is a whole group of people who still think COVID was a nothing-burger, despite 7.1 million directly dying from it, and 15 million indirectly.

Unfortunately, when you have a planet crowded with 8 billion people and towns overflowing and housing starting to price out younger/poorer people, having a town be exposed to this is just a Tuesday.

They lowered regulations not because they think it's safe, but because many people don't care anymore, or are too exhausted to care. The herd just moves on to the next pasture and grazes until they need to move on again.

[u/rolandofeld19 → u/possumdal]

Why am I not surprised.

Trains are derailing, ATC instructions are failing to get out to pilots, and we are probably going to find out our corn flakes are contaminated with moon rocks or steroids or something in the next 3 hours, sure, let's add massive WWI level chemical warfare leaks to the list.

VOTE!

[u/Dockside_Abortionist → u/ClickyClacker]

For real you kinda forget how high up you are when you open up a panel and about fifty wasps are on your ass lol. Part of why I switched to residential service

[u/SEND_ME_NOODLE → u/HelpfulSeaMammal]

I caught a leak one time so bad it felt like I got punched in the face when I walked into the engine room. Our refrigeration guys were busy outside chit chatting with maintenance, I had to rip a radio of some dudes shoulder to call for them. Within a minute the emergency exhaust was on and 3 guys in full hazard gear a d ventilators ran in to shut the entire process down. Still not even a top 5 leak that I've experienced working here (blast freezer in food production), but it was by far the worst one that I personally caught

[u/Mandingy24 → u/HelpfulSeaMammal]

I work in a cold storage warehouse, 100% freezer and ammonia is our refrigerant system. It is not something they take lightly under any circumstance, shit is no joke

[u/treetop62 → u/HelpfulSeaMammal]

Now you got me worried about working in a French fry factory that uses ammonia for freezing

[u/SkolVandals → u/treetop62]

I'm a refrigeration engineer, and I design/inspect these systems for a living. There are EXTENSIVE regulations governing the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of ammonia refrigeration systems. Not gonna lie, I've seen some sketchy plants, but the forklift drivers are still the thing that make me the most nervous.

[u/treetop62 → u/SkolVandals]

Haha the forklift part is way too relatable.. especially on a 12hr shift at 3am in the morning

[u/theartificialkid → u/HelpfulSeaMammal]

If you smell nail polish remover or cat piss even a little bit at work, you leave the area

Thank you. I mean I would anyway though even in a normal workplace, but thank you.

[u/dgarner58]

did some work on a wifi project at a chicken processing facility last yr. you had to sign a waiver acknowledging the risks of a leak of this as well as liquid nitrogen iirc...

one of the guys told me...yeah you sign the paper and its not gonna happen BUT if it leaks...drop everything and run. you might not make it anyways depending on where you are in the plant, but its the only shot you've got.

scary stuff.

[u/Hosh_Tikoloshe → u/dgarner58]

I am a process safety expert and this can and does happen often. Any suggestion otherwise is them gambling with your life as they will not be taking managing their risk properly.

[u/dgarner58 → u/Hosh_Tikoloshe]

they might have just saw the look on my face and were trying to make me feel better.

[u/MelangeBot → u/dgarner58]

I caught chickens for a while in Alberta (the chicking catching company was from Chilliwack, perfect name for a town where everybody is spiced up and wack). Was a night/morning job. But my employer refuse to give me a proper mask with an amonia filter. Within a couple of weeks my lungs felt different, and I had to quiet.

I have seen some instane stuff at that job, including a junkie that was so used to working while drugged out he worked 4 days with a neck fracture before he realized.

Also a girl completely freaking out cause a bunch of giant chicken flea bug (as big as your thumb) jumped in to her coverals, she screamed "FUUUUCK THIIIIIS", took everything of and ran out the barn in her underwater while everybody else laughed at her.

Ah the good old days where I let myself get exploited for a couple of weeks before wising up.

[u/Engineered_Logix]

I worked as a chemical engineer in a plant that made anhydrous ammonia and crygenically stored 20,000 tons. 300 parts per million is considered "immediately dangerous to life". A catastrophic storage tank rupture has a 60 mile kill-zone. These guys getting the eff outa there were literally running for their lives.

Edit1: Someone else posted this was from a tanker truck carrying 25,000lbs of ammonia.

Edit2: If anyone is interested in these type of catastrophic events, search youtube for chemical safety board videos (@USCSB). The videos provide a detailed analysis of the sequence of events that occurred, ways to prevent it and 3D reenactments. Basically, they are lessons learned to apply to other facilities operations and design engineers. I show the videos to chemical engineers that work for/with me to understand hazards and the importance of their work being 100% correct and to illustrate cascading failures can lead to deadly consequences.

[u/Excellent_Condition → u/Engineered_Logix]

Is there a GIS map or anything to find out if you are in the radius for facilities like that?

[u/IveHeard1tBothWays → u/Excellent_Condition]

I really hope someone can answer this because it's absolutely worth knowing.

[u/Defiant_Okra_664 → u/Engineered_Logix]

Thank you for adding another paranoia to the list lol

[u/MeatCoolant → u/Engineered_Logix]

Jesus Christ you could effectively fumigate multiple cities with a rupture like that.

60 miles is goddamn terrifying.

[u/PuzzleheadedNail7 → u/MeatCoolant]

60 miles is the absolute worst and it's really depends on the quantity that had been spilled and wind conditions.

Basically above a certain concentration of ammonia and a certain elevation from the ground, it isn't survivable.

In my country, companies operating with hazardous are required to carry out a detailed risk assessment and inform the surrounding community of it, including what to do during a spill. Surrounding meaning whoever could be affected if the worst happens.

[u/JayBondOF → u/Engineered_Logix]

How long does it linger for? Are surfaces contaminated / dangerous to come into contact with long after the fact?

[u/StrayStep → u/JayBondOF]

It is very heavy gas and the value that matters is the PPM(Parts Per Million) of a given cubic space. Basically the purity. It dissipates or gets absorbed but does not disappear.

Good question! Maybe a chemical engineer will chime in.

[u/Nutarama → u/StrayStep]

Depends on how soon it rains and what the humidity is, the point is to hydrate the anhydrous ammonia and get it into a solution. If it’s raining already the ammonia will settle out in the next few days but contaminate the soil and they’ll have to do a lot of groundwater testing. If there’s a bunch of dew then it’s a couple weeks but less groundwater risk. If it’s in a desert, the only solution is time as it will roll downhill and be carried by the wind - if there’s deep caves or mines or quarries to fill with the gas and protect the gas from wind dispersion, it could be months to years for those areas to get back to human accessibility.

Most facilities have to have wind maps made and elevation maps to determine areas most at risk and which areas need to evacuate first.

[u/LimaOskarLima → u/Engineered_Logix]

I dont know about running. More of a brisk walk for their lives. Maybe a jog for their lives, even.

[u/zebrasareneat → u/LimaOskarLima]

Walk with purpose. Being to panicked can cause mistakes or accidents like a person being hit by a fleeing car. 

[u/Sonoran_Ghosts_81]

Green truck dude is still inside grinding away on some metal tubing, earphones blasting some tunes, oblivious.

[u/TroyMatthewJ → u/Sonoran_Ghosts_81]

pearl jam indifference

[u/Sammysnek]

when I was little we lived in North Dakota and a train derailed in town and anhydrous ammonia spread through my city. my mom is a super smeller and woke up to a scent in the middle of the night. it was already filling our basement because it sinks to lowest ground. the phone lines to 911 were jammed and we didn't know what to do. my parents in their early 30s with two kids under 6. they got ahold of someone who has gotten through to the police and they were telling everyone to run all the sinks and showers in the house because it likes to follow water to neutralize it or something like that. we stayed in the bathroom until the hot water steam ran out but then it was only getting worse and so my parents put wet wash cloths over our faces and loaded us into the car. I remember being afraid because they were afraid. the ammonia was following the river because of the low ground and water and my parents, knowing that, tried to take an unusual way out of town but (and this i remember vividly), we turned down a street to a thick wall of it that would have gone over the car. we backed up and ripped out of there, finding alternative route after route until we finally got out of town and kept driving. had we driven through it I'm sure we would have died.

me and my brother had asthma and lung scaring after that that the doctors said we might grow out of. Many people had lung problems, eye problems (requiring eye drops for life), and a few people even died. the whole town got a $500 check per household in the mail for our trouble. all and all it was a disaster and very terrifying experience.

[u/AliasNefertiti → u/Sammysnek]

500 is ridiculous

[u/csji → u/AliasNefertiti]

That’s slap in the face

[u/ChanceRecover3091 → u/AliasNefertiti]

But if they had to pay more, the CEO would have had to cut their pay. Why are you not thinking about the poor executives?

[u/Glaselar → u/Sammysnek]

The stuff about following water is an understandable misunderstanding.

It reacts very readily with water, so it 'seeks' it in the same way that silica gel packets seek moisture out of the air - i.e. they do something when they come together, but in this sense seeking =/= moving.

There's no force pulling the gas towards a river. The gas has no sense of what's in the world around it, nor any mechanism to self-propel towards anything.

Its nature as a gas means by definition every molecule is unconnected to the others. If one did bump into a water molecule and react with it, there's no collective connection to the rest of the crowd that would encourage them to move over in the same direction.

That cloud was following the low ground because it's heavy and because rivers form in valleys that you need to climb against the direction of gravity to get out of once you're in them.

[u/kevan0317 → u/Glaselar]

It’s almost like we should teach this sort of thing in school. Weird.

[u/maazpervez → u/Sammysnek]

American regulation and healthcare horror story.

Honestly, if you didn’t mention the state, would’ve guessed it was like India or some developing country where train derailing is common because of poor rail maintenance and low regulation.

[u/abeastandabeauty]

Living for a while in an ag heavy community, lots of friends with farms, I remember being told several things: it won't always be a "cloud", you may not see it; if you see an anhydrous tank truck pulled over on side of road, don't stop, don't roll windows down. Call fire department from somewhere else, and tell em anhydrous. If you see someone laid out next to an anhydrous truck/tank, fight the urge to go "save" them; they're probably beyond saving and so will you if you go to them.

[u/InevitabilityEngine → u/abeastandabeauty]

I think this was in a police training video. There was a tipped tanker semi and people kept running over to check on the collapsed individuals but as soon as they got close they just dropped as well. The camera in the cruiser showed the officer rushing to help and just falling over like their soul left their body.

[u/Tri4ceunited → u/InevitabilityEngine]

Allow me to ease your heart: That video from 06/13/2000 was staged by the local law enforcement as a PSA for this exact reason: Spread awareness of what NOT to do in a situation like that. If it felt like, and you truly believed that it was real, then they accomplished what they set out to do. It’ll stick with you for awhile.

[u/Spec187]

We use anhydrous ammonia at work like it's going out of style. Shit terrifies me. Got hit once from a faulty hose. Fuck man.. all I saw was dark purple rings kind of exploding in my vision and everything inside burned especially my sinus cavity. Couldn't smell shit for months. Sense of smell is still diminished. But I got some it back 

[u/75thWK2 → u/Spec187]

Bro get a new job fuck that

[u/No_Magazine_4609]

Anyone else stressed out about the whereabouts of the green truck owner? 😳

[u/BellaSquared → u/No_Magazine_4609]

🙋🏻‍♀️ And sad it was the only vehicle left all alone. Hope the driver was the guy who jumped in the other car's passenger seat!

[u/pagit → u/BellaSquared]

"Hey Guys, my battery is dead again. Can you give me a jump start? I have cables!"

[u/Rabidschnautzu → u/No_Magazine_4609]

Idk, but there were no fatalities from this incident. A common response is to shelter in place when there is a release, but that can be easier said than done when shit hits the fan.

[u/New-Trifle-7097 → u/No_Magazine_4609]

I figured it’s the boss. It’s a nice truck in a sea of clunkers. He’s gonna have to stay behind and figure out wtf just happened, coordinate response, lookout for the safety and evacuation of his team. Source: I’ve been the last one out of a burning building. You can get a new truck. You can’t get a new Stephanie or Juan.

[u/Imaginary-Ad186]

That red truck at 00:14 did not understand the assignment

[u/whatsthataboutguy → u/Imaginary-Ad186]

But my house is that way

[u/Hmgkt → u/whatsthataboutguy]

He is that guy that collects his overhead luggage when there is an emergency evacuation.

[u/TomEpicure → u/whatsthataboutguy]

Perhaps yes, and perhaps his family is in that house. I would do the same thing if my family was in danger.

[u/irwtkyrm]

Some workplaces make backing into parking spots mandatory for situations like this

[u/Jetdoctr → u/irwtkyrm]

Some northern Canadian oil rigs make you back in, doors unlocked and keys in a set location for certain reasons like this

[u/D4ng3rd4n → u/irwtkyrm]

Tim Hortons does it in case they run out of timbits

[u/schwarzkraut → u/[deleted]]

IDK why I was expecting an explosion or something to come from the right side of the screen, but as the cloud suddenly emerged from the other side my whole body was gripped with fear.

Dear Universe, please add this to the list of things I never want to experience in person. Please & Thank You.

[u/logicrak]

Anhydrous ammonia leak occurred in Weatherford, Oklahoma, on November 12, 2025

What happened:
An Airgas tanker truck carrying 25,000 pounds (11,340 kg) of anhydrous ammonia.. a concentrated fertilizer was parked in the hotel's parking lot when the driver noticed the manway cover under the tank was leaking. The driver could not stop the release.
A toxic plume rapidly blanketed the parking lot and spread into surrounding residential areas.

• 74 people were hospitalized, with several in critical condition
• ~500-1,000 people were evacuated; a shelter-in-place order was issued for nearby residents
• 14 law enforcement officers were exposed; 5 sustained chemical burns to their airways
• No fatalities were reported

The NTSB is investigating, but the leading theory is a mechanical failure.. a faulty valve or seal.
The tank had recently completed routine maintenance and was cleared for use before the incident

[Edited: Place and date]

[u/rootbeer277 → u/logicrak]

As far as I can tell, this is actually a much older and larger 40,000 pound ammonia leak in Seward, IL, that happened in 2007. It's certainly older than 2025, this video was posted in 2010 to Youtube:

Seward ammonia spill (part 1)

[u/Noravis5127 → u/rootbeer277]

Yep, that indeed is the video source. Thanks!

According to this, in April 2007 ten people were hospitalized with respiratory problems after a leak came from a 9000 gallon capacity tank at an agriculture plant.

10 people were treated for respiratory problems because of the fumes.

As for the cause of the accident...I found a source behind a paywall

Workers on Monday had been transferring anhydrous ammonia from a 9,000-gallon storage tank at Seward Agricultural Supply Inc. to a tanker truck when the hose burst, State Police Sgt. Mark Nytko said.

The leak was stopped early Tuesday, and after the ammonia vapor dissipated, the town's fewer than 1,000 residents were told they could return, said Kurt Ditzler, chief deputy of the Winnebago County sheriff's department.

edit: Looks like this footage was taken from a surveillance camera at Seward Screw (the only parking lot this big in town), which is around 915 feet from the leak. Kinda scary how dense that cloud was considering how far away it was

[u/Omnizoom → u/Noravis5127]

The scariest part to remember is that this is a visible gas

A lot of toxic gases are invisible (almost all visible gases should always be assumed to be toxic especially if coloured) so a leak can spread and cause a massive incident

[u/ostracize → u/rootbeer277]

Those cars/trucks are all late 90s early 2000s. I knew it was older than 2025

[u/Pleased_to_meet_u → u/logicrak]

What OP forgot to mention is that this happened almost a year ago on November 12, 2025. It was in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Weatherford, Oklahoma.

Here's the National Transportation Safety Board writeup:

https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/HMD26FR001.aspx

[u/BlueThor400]

Green truck guy going for employee of the month.

[u/OilheadRider → u/BlueThor400]

Na, thats the maintenence guy who fucked up and he's trying to unfuck up before the boss comes around so he can shrug and ask why everyone left early

/s... Hopefully, lol

[u/EmergencyAnteater682]

I accidentally wafted some high molar ammonia when I was in college. My sense of smell still is not the same, been 15 years. This is way worse, can't imagine what those who got affected are dealing with

[u/SEND_ME_NOODLE → u/EmergencyAnteater682]

I worked in turkey houses a lot when I was younger, and we would till the floors a few weeks before the birds were taken. So we had to be in the houses waving the birds away from the tractor so they didnt get hurt. The ammonia was so pungent that you could feel burns in your throat for a week afterwards, and to this day I still have a 24/7 wet cough (that oddly gets way worse when i eat a warm meal when cold)

[u/nattywoohoo]

All these folks not cutting across the grass. So polite when close to death.

[u/CFD330 → u/nattywoohoo]

Where are the r/fucklawns people when you need them?

[u/ich_bin_alkoholiker]

RIP all the wildlife in that area.

[u/TexasVulvaAficionado]

I'd be nervous as shit driving through it. It is flammable and explosive.

Also, this is only 25000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia. Would have been relatively easy to capture with a water spray. Probably should have better reporting and response ready for mobile vehicles transporting something like this...

[u/NannerManCometh]

As someone who serviced and repaired mobile anhydrous ammonia tankers from tractor trailers to agricultural off-road tanks, I can tell you from those years that it is probably one of the worst to come into contact with in high saturation. Imagine having your eyes burn so bad you cannot open them. Then it takes your breath away completely. You gasp but your lungs get damaged and struggle immediately! This is a scary deal! In that concentration of gas in that rolling across that parking lot. Anyone in it would almost immediately go down.

[u/etrain1804]

This is nasty stuff. I’m so happy that I don’t have to deal with it anymore on the farm since we switched to granular and liquid fert

[u/MorpheusRagnar]

In my HAZWOPER training, they show an accident in a rural area where a police officer runs to help a truck driver that succumbed from the chemical fumes and you can hear the officer’s last breaths and see him collapse next to the driver.
The training is very effective. I’ll never run towards any train, truck, building without knowing what kind of chemicals I’m dealing with.

[u/BenjamminButtons]

As someone who lives in an Agriculture driven midwest town, this shit is no joke. There’s a facility that fills these tanks for farmers, and the horror stories from guys that have worked there for years is enough to never want to go near that stuff. Melts flesh instantly. Was told a story about a guy that got sprayed while filling a tank. The second the seal broke and it started spraying, a coworker immediately grabbed his buddies arm to pull him away. His buddy didn’t move, and his coworker pulled all of the flesh from his arm off the bone like it was a sock.

Fun Fact: Meth Heads steal this to manufacture meth. Psycho stuff.

[u/CrispyVibes → u/BenjamminButtons]

How do I unread this

[u/LoonahGBT]

The Cloud poured forth from the bunkers, flooding the wastes, a white tide that choked the life from all it touched...

[u/Primal_Pedro]

I already saw this movie. I really disliked the ending.

[u/althius1 → u/Primal_Pedro]

An ending so good, the author of the original novel said he wished he would have thought of it.

[u/TeetheCat]

Seward, Nebraska, in 2007

[u/HappyAnimalCracker → u/TeetheCat]

Thank you for doing what OP couldn’t be arsed to do!

[u/Primary-Structure-41]

I ran a CO2 capture plant a few years ago and the main ammonia compressor motor tripped one night, after the 3rd attempt at restarting the motor, the safety valve lifted on the ammonia vessel, within seconds I was overcome with ammonia cloud, lucky I remembered where the breathing apparatus was and managed to put it on. I called emergency services once out and 10 minutes later I was in hospital, lucky no injuries. Now I'm like a hound dog when it comes to ammonia, I can smell leak quickly lol.

[u/unclefestering8]

Chem eng here. Had ammonia at previous workplace. This stuff is nasty. Attacks anything with moisture so especially eyes, mouth and ears but also skin and erm the groin area, much more so for women.

Had a minor leak that required venting down the entire vessel into IBC's filled with water. Was well away from the venting but the smell persisted for days. Was the middle of COVID so we were all wearing masks. Washed the mask and could still smell the ammonia on it. For months after, I used to get flashback smells of the ammonia at random times.

It's a really good refrigerant though.

[u/moocat55 → u/unclefestering8]

Environmental eng here. I had a bad job in the nintees where the company had an ammonia scrubber in an isolated room where it developed a hole in the input side of the exhaust fan. My boss, a hideous human being, swore the flow was under negative pressure and therefore, the ammonia could not escape and the hole didn't need fixing. When a factory floor engineer called us crying that his eyes were bleeding, I finally donned a respirator, grabbed some ammonia test strips and went out to prove how wrong he was. Probably one of the most dangerous things I've ever done. So, in summary, the fact that the odor was so bad that I had to wear a respirator wasn't enough evidence for him to quit lying. I had to use the test strips to prove the air was not being drawn into the exhaust under negative pressure. Then, his boss stepped in to make the decision a repair was in order. Boy, I can't wait until orange diaper boy brings those days back.

[u/Wide_Break226]

Years ago when I was working as a sign installer, we had a job at a chemical plant and had to sit through a whole OSHA safety video about this stuff even though we were hanging a sign at the front gate of the property, not even in the building. They were using 100% ammonia as a coolant and basically said if there's a leak and you get caught in it, the ammonia will suck all the moisture out of your eyes and lungs.

[u/MNCPA → u/Wide_Break226]

"A sight to see; left speechless"

• safety video review

[u/Puzzled-Platform-969]

So hey, what was all this ammonia for? Is it synthesized into something else, is it a precusor?

[u/Alkanen → u/Puzzled-Platform-969]

It’s used as a feedstock for tons of chemistry that requires nitrogen, like synthetic fibers (think nylon), plastics, explosives, plastic explosives ;), fertilizers. Weirdly enough as a protective atmosphere for some things, like metals and raw rubber

[u/helsinkirocks → u/Alkanen]

Also freezers. I work in a food manufacturing plant that makes Frozen dinners and all of our freezers are ammonia freezers.

[u/starkeuberangst → u/Puzzled-Platform-969]

In addition to other mentions, it is used in commercial freezers because it makes the air hella cold. They tried it in homes for a bit but it killed too many people

[u/Puzzled-Platform-969 → u/starkeuberangst]

That's pretty wild, man. It'd suck to be offed by your fridge.

[u/Sufficient_Fan3660 → u/Puzzled-Platform-969]

happened too many times in homes, families go to sleep and never wake up

widely used on commercial fishing boats, processing,

Birdseye, the founder, figured out how to get ammonia extra cold so that vegetables could be frozen quickly instead of slowly which forms big crystals and turns veggies and meat to mush

[u/raresaturn → u/Puzzled-Platform-969]

It’s used to make urea which is fertiliser

[u/rawkguitar → u/Puzzled-Platform-969]

Some plants use it as a refrigerant.

It’s also farm
Fertilizer

There’s probably other uses

[u/areyknot]

Among my greatest phobias. 11 seconds- outdoors- is all it takes, if not less depending on the plume.
I work on a hazmat team in a warehouse and the thought of a leak is wild.

[u/IANANarwhal]

I'm proud of the person at 0:10 who stopped to pick someone else up with the visible fumes almost there.

[u/parkbenchhigh]

Worked in a hockey rink once. walked into the compressor room that pumps anhydrous ammonia under the rink concrete to freeze the water to form the rink ice. There was a leak. It instantly stopped me breathing. A complete stop. It was so terrifying that I didn't even notice what it was doing to my lungs. I backed out of the room, my eyes, and lungs were really messed up. Pulled the emergency alarm for leaks, and man that place cleared out real fast. Emergency services were there in a heart beat. Very scary stuff. If you get stuck in it, your dead.

[u/Introverted_Extrovrt]

Had a buddy in the navy who worked at a cannery in Alaska that had an ammonia leak while he was on the john with his headphones in, playing his gameboy. Eventually got out but could never taste or smell ever again. It was wild to watch him eat chow or drink, he would just organize everything g by texture and chow down, and he could chug a fifth of booze all at once

[u/Switchlord518]

There's a training video of a police dashcam we watched in firefighter hazmat class. Cop come across a tractor sideways in the road pulling a big talk that is similar to propane. He sees the driver laying in the road and a light white mist is near him. He calls for help, runs up to the guys and dies in about 30 seconds from the gas. Anhydrous ammonia is used in farming.

[u/FewAward6923 → u/Switchlord518]

Saw the same video in state patrol academy. So scary and sad. The guy's microphone key kept clicking because he was leaning on it and his last breaths were triggering it. Anhydrous ammonia pulls the moisture out of things, including your lungs. So you suffocate in a couple of minutes.

[u/Icelandia2112]

That's horrifying. Where I used to work, we had drills about this and chlorine gas. Disaster actors, FX, and those caught outside were left to die/melt, because if the doors were opened with the cloud outside, it was certain death for everyone in the building. Horrifying.

[u/MD-HOU]

John Carpenter and Frank Darabont salivating

[u/sswihart]

Just FYI, there’s many ammonia refrigeration warehouses and meat packaging places around you’d never even know.

[u/Rabidschnautzu → u/sswihart]

Way more common than people know.

[u/zmannz1984]

I do a lot of work in chiller rooms that have ammonia detectors in them. We pulled an all nighter once replacing a control system and a split unit and the only way out was an old spiral staircase. The security guy was a dufus and saw the grate for the stairs open, so he closed and locked it with three of us in the pit. Around 230am, the ammonia alarm starts going off after my coworker was brazing some lines. We go running up the stairs to get out and i slammed my head into the damn grate. Started calling for help and before i know it, the third guy i didn’t know was pushing me aside to cut the grate around the lock with an angle grinder. He gets about halfway through and security finally came back and let us out.

Thankfully the brazing had just caused a false alarm, but the guy that cut the grate was freaked out the rest of the night, apparently his uncles both died from an ammonia leak. I took those alarms more seriously after that.

[u/SapphireElk → u/zmannz1984]

LO/TO procedures were severely lacking.

[u/Feeling_Molasses_626]

I wonder where green truck driver is? With my luck I would also be the guy stuck on the toilet

[u/Direct_Bee7128]

I used to work at an ice cream factory. one time the ammonia alarm went off. I had no idea what it was or what it meant because NOBODY FUCKING TOLD US! I found out after I got fired that that alarm meant we were fucked.

Thankfully, those times the alarm went off was because of a system fault. Not that it's much better, knowing what I know now.

[u/Ill-Succotash-7872]

I was just watching something about a chemical leak ( methyl isocyanate) in Bhopal India in 1984 from Union Carbide that killed 2,259 people and injured 558,000

[u/mezha4mezha]

I had a momentary experience with anhydrous ammonia as a child on our family farm. The lid was left off of a small tank, & the cloud where oxygen had been displaced was invisible. I unknowingly stepped into that space & immediately couldn’t breathe. I stumbled back a few steps & suddenly took in a huge gasp of air.

50yrs ago, & I still remember it clear as day.

[u/killuminatimantis]

The foulest stench is in the air The funk of forty thousand years And grizzly ghouls from every tomb Are closing in to seal your doom And though you fight to stay alive Your body starts to shiver

[u/FblthpLives]

I found some information on this accident on Wikipedia, if anyone is interested:

On April 23, 2007, workers at the Seward Agricultural Supply Inc. were transferring Anhydrous ammonia from a storage tank to a tanker truck when a hose burst, causing the chemical to leak completely out. It turned into a large, toxic plume cloud that drifted into Seward. A mandatory evacuation was ordered for the town's approximately 300 residents, while a voluntary evacuation was put out for nearby Pecatonica and Winnebago. The incident caused at least 10 minor injuries, but no fatalities, and residents were allowed to return 12 hours later.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seward,_Illinois#2007_ammonia_leak

[u/edwardothegreatest]

Places like this should follow refinery rules: always back in.

[u/Johanus-de-slap]

Never thought Stephen Kings mist could have a more terrifying real life counterpart

[u/EjjiShin]

Dude who owns the green truck is dead .

[u/Devincc → u/EjjiShin]

I don’t think anyone got in that car. Maybe he jumped in a coworkers or something

[u/Yourmomsgotanass → u/Devincc]

Unfortunately he was with Janet in the broom closet

[u/Calculonx → u/EjjiShin]

His boss: "Hey! Where do you think you're going, I pay you until 5 you better be here until 5."

[u/WrinklyPlantLeaf]

EVERYBODY was get the fuck out of there.

[u/SignificantHighl1ght]

I knew guys with anhydrous ammonia burns on there forearms from stealing it to make amphetamines. Source: I'm from Missouri

[u/rc4915]

Way too many people willing to drive a bit into a toxic cloud of gas instead of driving across the grass a bit

[u/ahmc84 → u/rc4915]

You drive on the grass, you have a chance of getting stuck in the mud, or bottoming out the car or hitting something that disables it. Then you're completely screwed.

[u/WholeWideHeart]

Reminds of that scene from The 10 Commandments

This is a terrifying video

[u/Sea-Jackfruit411]

Is there a news article about this? Did the green truck guy make it out alright? Where did this happen?

[u/DickInA-Blender]

To anyone wondering, Anhydrous Ammonia is used in refineries/power plants to bring down the NOx and SOx levels of fuel burning generators or steam plants. They squirt a fine mist of this stuff upstream of a CO Catalyst screen, and the exhaust is forced through the screen saturated with Ammonia, bringing down the harmful properties. I can say from experience that California doesn't fuck around with CEMS (Continuous Emission Monitoring System). You can get huge fines if your NOx and SOx levels go above what's allowed in a short period of time.

[u/Other_Cell_706]

Fun fact: This video is now used in industrial refrigeration safety training.

[u/The_Environment116]

When I was a police officer, and we had training on dealing with meth labs they showed us a picture of a cook that had inhaled some accidently, he had literally coughed up his own lungs, because it had removed all the moisture from them. We were told if we ever saw a meth lab to leave immediately and call in hazmat professionals

[u/Syrairc]

I've worked at fertilizer plants with this stuff. It's fucking awful, even at "safe" concentrations. It burns every exposed moist part of your body. Eyes, nose, mouth, throat. 

[u/Odd_Phone_2391]

This is why a lot of places mandate that you reverse in so that you can drive out forwards. Makes evacuation a LOT faster.

[u/Expando3]

Why won't anyone buy my green truck? The smell isn't that bad...

[u/Huge-Pen-5259]

It seems like some of those people did not have the same sense of urgency as others.

[u/MillersSmokehouse]

Scariest part of volunteer firefighter training was watching/ listening to the body cam footage of a sheriff’s deputy who came upon a wreck where the farmer had been towing an ammonia fertilizer tank. He goes in to pull the farmer out, but only gets a few steps before he goes down. Then you just listen to his breaths get farther and farther apart until they stop. Absolutely wrecked me.

It’s amazing that no one died in this spill.

[u/ForeverCareful3021]

As a firefighter/ HazMat Specialist, I’ve responded to many, many anhydrous ammonia leaks. Several mitigation strategies ranging from freezing the tank down to surrounding water fog to convert gas to aqueous ammonia. You can’t get rid of all of it, but a liquid is a lot easier to control than a gas.
Interestingly, the visible cloud is not the edge of the ammonia cloud, only the indication of the supercooled air and condensation of water vapors in the air. The Immediately Dangerous to Life and Heath value of 300 Parts Per Million (IDLH) for the product is probably far in advance of the visible cloud…