Local, state and federal regulators largely rely on companies to report their own incidents. They do not have to report all incidents, only those of certain sizes. Hazardous chemicals used Biggest polluters Timeline Still, the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, in a 1996 report, noted ''significant evidence'' that spills in all industries are underreported. The national databases reviewed for this series did detail 48 incidents between 1993 and 1997 at semiconductor companies. Employees were evacuated four times.
Evacuations occur much more often than the database notes, consultants and industry officials say.
The chemicals, including hydrofluoric and phosphoric acid, are in 55-gallon drums and are considered extremely hazardous. If they leak, McCracken Moving has no means to contain the leak. Buildings storing such chemicals are supposed to double-contain them. That means the drums should be inside bigger drums or tanks that would catch leaks. We're warehouse people, not chemists,'' Vice President Bob Russell says.