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Toxic chemical leak at a manufacturing facility in Orange County

bbc.com

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Re: Toxic chemical leak at a manufacturing facility in Orange County

#21

Post by fc417fc802 »

Aloha wrote: post #8
fc417fc802 wrote: post #3

I'd be curious how it came to pass that 40k people were living within the blast radius of a plant processing toxic chemicals. Isn't this sort of thing the primary justification for the existence of zoning laws?

The actual site of the tank is 33.78356416377991, -117.99993897629278 [1] - its in an industrial park, and its not a large scale chemical manufacturing facility. Its 'light manufacturing' for a company that makes custom formed acrylics for aerospace. https://www.google.com/maps/place/33°47'00.8%22N+117°59'59.8...

I get that, but the reality is that 40k people were evacuated. Shouldn't zoning be set up so as to prevent that? Light manufacturing in general is fine but it seems like these particular storage tanks might have been a bit too large for that location.

Re: Toxic chemical leak at a manufacturing facility in Orange County

#24

Post by abtinf »

fc417fc802 wrote: post #3

I'd be curious how it came to pass that 40k people were living within the blast radius of a plant processing toxic chemicals. Isn't this sort of thing the primary justification for the existence of zoning laws?

That area has dozens of aerospace manufacturers, building up since before WW2. People wanted to live close to work. There are lots of homes and commercial areas and industrial parks are tightly mixed together.

Source: I’ve worked in aerospace in Orange County.

Re: Toxic chemical leak at a manufacturing facility in Orange County

#25

Post by fcsp »

Freedom2 wrote: post #15
Jtsummers wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Read the article. They have been doing that, but that is just slowing things down and buying them time.

[flagged]

Read the article in the context of the comment clearly means "I have read the article - here's my conclusion of its context relating to your post". Did you even read the thread?

Re: Toxic chemical leak at a manufacturing facility in Orange County

#26

Post by bonsai_spool »

fc417fc802 wrote: post #21
Aloha wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The actual site of the tank is 33.78356416377991, -117.99993897629278 [1] - its in an industrial park, and its not a large scale chemical manufacturing facility. Its 'light manufacturing' for a company that makes custom formed acrylics for aerospace. https://www.google.com/maps/place/33°47'00.8%22N+117°59'59.8...

I get that, but the reality is that 40k people were evacuated. Shouldn't zoning be set up so as to prevent that? Light manufacturing in general is fine but it seems like these particular storage tanks might have been a bit too large for that location.

> I get that, but the reality is that 40k people were evacuated. Shouldn't zoning be set up so as to prevent that?

It's funny that you would suggest this about California, where it is notoriously hard to build things.

Accidents happen, it's not obvious that this was a forseeable outcome (happy for corrections from folks who have expertise in this area).

Re: Toxic chemical leak at a manufacturing facility in Orange County

#28

Post by gus_massa »

foota wrote: post #2

Is it not possible for them to just... spray it with ice cold water?

I guess you ask why they are using water at ambient temperature (20°C; 68°F) instead of very cold water (0°C; 32°F). Some reasons I can think now:

They are using a lot of water, as most as possible, from pipes at whatever temperature it is. There are no enough mobile refrigerators, not enough electricity to make them work, and it's very hard to transport cold water or ice if you don't use the pipes.

Also, the center of the tank is hot and reacting, but the external part is a nasty block if plastic that acts like a shield and isolate it from the cold water outside.

This is a common problems in big chemical plants when you have exothermic reactions. It's not enough to cold it down, you need to ensure all parts are cold down.

For comparison, there is a nice video by NileRed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phNLecfyWS8 He is making Bakelite that is a type of plastic. It's a tiny amount, in a lab, on purpose and he may make a few attempts. Anyway it overheat and instead of a nice piece of plastic he got a nasty block of foam with burned plastic. No imagine a huge tank of a similar chemistry reaction.

Re: Toxic chemical leak at a manufacturing facility in Orange County

#29

Post by kristjansson »

fc417fc802 wrote: post #3

I'd be curious how it came to pass that 40k people were living within the blast radius of a plant processing toxic chemicals. Isn't this sort of thing the primary justification for the existence of zoning laws?

Because greater Los Angeles is the USA's (post-)WWII aerospace hub disguised as a megacity and cultural production center? All sorts of folks spent the 40s-00s (scientifically) blowing stuff up in the hills, and manufacturing the resulting products down in the basin and points south. Those businesses needed labor, which needed nearby housing, and here we are.

Re: Toxic chemical leak at a manufacturing facility in Orange County

#30

Post by cyanydeez »

mkw5053 wrote: post #27

Where are all of the humanoid robots? Get them in there with whatever the oil and gas industry uses for tapping pipes/containers under pressure. I'm only half kidding.

despite all the replace humans IT delusion, we're pretty much still the same civilization that uses steam to generate most energy. The AI emperor has no clothese.
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