WV Mine Spills Sulfuric Acid, Caustic Same Day; DEP - We Don't Know How Much, But Everything's A-OK!

[hatrack]

BERKELEY SPRINGS — Two different spills at a sand mine in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle have been stopped, the state Department of Environmental Protection said this morning.

Kelley Gillenwater, a spokeswoman for the state DEP, said she still had no word on how much material had been spilled. Crews had been working Tuesday night to try to stop spills of acid and of a caustic material at the site near Berkeley Springs.

U.S. Silica, which operates the facility, initially reported a spill of sulfuric acid. The acid is used to purify sand, which is produced by the site for use mostly in glass. Later, the company said it also was dealing with a second leak, of a caustic material.

Gillenwater said that the facility reported to state officials that it routinely stores up to 53,000 pounds of sulfuric acid at the site.

“We don’t know how much has been spilled,” Gillenwater said.

EDIT

http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20140513/GZ01/140519737/1419

[n2doc]

1. Hey, maybe they will neutralize each other!