[ENCI-l] Engineering Evacuation Follow Up

[engg-enci-l at mailman.ucalgary.ca]

Schulich students,

 

There was an incident last Friday that required evacuation of the
engineering school. A very brief article appeared in the Calgary Herald and
we understand that people would like more detail about it. If you have any
questions that are not addressed here, please feel free to contact Susan
Devins at the email address below.

 

 

Elizabeth Cannon, Dean

 

================

 

 

On Friday, February 26, a sealed jar that was labeled  2,4,6-trinitrotoluene
(a constituent of many explosives and commonly known an TNT) was identified
by a lab technician while reviewing and disposing of items stored in locked
cabinets in engineering E Block.

 

It was not certain whether the contents reflected what was on the label and
there was no date on the label. The University erred on the side of caution
and asked police and Calgary Fire Department to attend.

In order to minimize risks, the building was evacuated during the removal of
the hazardous materials. The container was safely removed from the
University and taken to a field where it was detonated by Calgary Police
Services Tactical Unit.

 

Chemicals and gasses are routinely used in engineering research. The
University is currently implementing a system that requires all chemicals in
laboratories to be inventoried in a central electronic database. The
chemical inventory of the 120 engineering labs is scheduled to be completed
by September 2010. As part of this initiative, prior to being inventoried,
labs are inspected to dispose of surplus or outdated chemicals. The
discovery of the suspect container was a result of this ongoing inspection
and clean-up process.

 

There is a procedure in place to address the clean-up and sign-off of lab
spaces by individuals departing from lab spaces on a permanent basis,
although this was not in place in the 1980s. This current 

procedure is designed to prevent just such "orphaned" chemicals from
accumulating in storage areas.

 

Questions or concerns may be directed to the safety consultant for the
Schulich School of Engineering, Susan Devins at sdevins at ucalgary.ca.

 

 

 

 

 

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