The facility, an electroplating and metal finishing shop that serves the aircraft industry, is next to a grade school and a fraternal hall. The release occurred when a temporary holding tank was being moved, tipped over, and spilled the contents onto a blacktop parking lot. The material flowed over to a business neighbor's blacktop parking lot and, finally, to a park. The release did not enter a storm-water or sanitary sewer system, and Production Plating did the necessary cleanup. The local fire department arrived at the scene after it was notified by a neighbor.
Sodium cyanide is a corrosive, highly toxic chemical.
Exposure to it may cause nosebleeds, headaches, nausea, and dizziness. The environmental project requires the company to replace the existing parking areas outside the building with new concrete paving that extends to a containment wall at the border of the property. The new concrete will be 8 inches thick, steel reinforced, and coated with a vapor barrier to prevent seepage into soil beneath the pavement. The new paved areas will also be sloped to direct any future spills to a catch basin.