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As of December 30, 2016, an Administrative Law Judge invalidated a proposed pollution notification rule promulgated by the Department, which required owners of installations throughout the State of Florida report pollution events to the local government as
well as a local media outlet to notify the general public of the event. Protecting Florida’s pristine environment is our top priority and DEP will continue the public pollution notification process to ensure all Floridians and visitors are notified of pollution
incidents. Moving forward the notification process from the Department may change, however it was imperative that the notification to the public continued seamlessly. The incident below was reported to the State Watch Office and is being forwarded to you because
the event has occurred in your area. For more information or should you have any questions, please contact Lauren Engel at Lauren.Engel@dep.state.fl.us<br>
<br>
Florida Division of Emergency Management<br>
State Watch Office Incident Report<br>
Attachments<br>
Attachment: NRC#1171892<br>
Update 1 - 02/25/2017-02:40 / DEM-Lawhon<br>
Peer NRC #1171892, "CALLER IS REPORTING THE PH BEGAN TO DROP ON AN OUTFALL, LEADING FACILITY TO DISCOVER A RELEASE OF SULFURIC ACID...NONE AT THIS TIME, INCIDENT BEING INVESTIGATED. "<br>
Main Information<br>
Report #: 2017-1617<br>
Status: Assigned<br>
Reported to SWO on: 2/25/2017 02:19 ET<br>
Severity: Local Incident<br>
Description: Possible Chemical Release<br>
This situation involves: Hazardous Materials<br>
Affected Sectors: DEP District - Northwest, DEP OER Pensacola On-Call<br>
Initial Report: Monitoring equipment at the Ascend Performance Material facility in Gonzales indicated that the PH on an outfall (storm drain system) started to drop. The drop in the PH of the water running through the outfall is an indicator of a chemical
release. The outfall drains into the Escambia River. Due to the chemicals at the facility, this is probably a sulfuric acid leak. Employees started to check the tanks at the facility but could not any leaks. Therefore this appears to be an underground leak
from a transfer pipe. Test samples have been sent to a lab to confirm the chemical that is being released.<br>
Injuries: No<br>
Fatalities (Unconfirmed by State Medical Examiner): No<br>
Environmental impact: Yes<br>
DEP callback requested: No<br>
Incident Occurred: 2/25/2017 23:50 ET<br>
Most Recent Update Date/Time: 02/25/2017-02:45 ET<br>
Most Recent Update: Peer NRC #1171892, "CALLER IS REPORTING THE PH BEGAN TO DROP ON AN OUTFALL, LEADING FACILITY TO DISCOVER A RELEASE OF SULFURIC ACID...NONE AT THIS TIME, INCIDENT BEING INVESTIGATED. "<br>
Affected Counties: Escambia<br>
Facility Name or Description: Ascend Performance Material<br>
Incident Location: Address: 3000 Old Chemstrand Road City: Gonzales<br>
Coordinates: Lat: 30.238691, Long: -90.92073<br>
<br>
Contact Information<br>
Reporting Party: Name: Richard Grosse, Ascend Performance Material |Call Back Number 1: 850-968-7665 |Call Back Number 2: 850-382-1879 |Address: 3000 Old Chemstrand Road Gonzales FL, 32560<br>
Responsible Party: Same as Reporting Party<br>
On-Scene Contact: Same as Reporting Party<br>
Hazardous Materials<br>
Sub-Type: Toxic Industrial Chemical<br>
Situation: Active, release in progress<br>
Description: Possible Sulfuric Acid Spill<br>
Chemical Name: Sulfuric Acid<br>
Index Name: Sulfuric Acid<br>
CAS Number: 7664939<br>
Section 304 Reportable Quantity: 1,000<br>
CERCLA Reportable Quantity: 1,000<br>
Chemical State: Liquid<br>
Source / Container: Unknown<br>
Total source/container volume: Unknown<br>
Quantity released: Unknown<br>
Rate of release: Unknown<br>
Released: Outside environment<br>
Cause of release: Unknown<br>
Time the release was discovered: 23:50 ET<br>
Reason for late report: Unknown<br>
Storm drains affected: Yes, drained to waterway(s) listed<br>
Waterways affected: Yes<br>
Name(s) of waterways: Escambia River<br>
Major roadways closed: No
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