On August 7, The Herald ran a story about an explosion in a container full of garbage here in Everett. (“Explosion starts garbage fire”). The writer quoted the fire chief as saying he did not know what caused the explosion. Well, now we do.
The garbage was loaded into the 48-foot long steel container at our transfer station in Mountlake Terrace. As it turned out, included in the waste was a ten-gallon metal canister filled with calcium carbide. (Our staff discovered it when the damaged container was unloaded at the landfill in Klickitat County.) This chemical has a number of uses in welding and machine shops and other places, because when water is added, it creates acetylene gas. The container probably broke open in the handling process, and was exposed to liquid in the load of garbage. In the five hours after it was loaded, gas apparently built up inside until heat or a spark set off the explosion.
This event appears to be unique – not only is it the first such problem in ten years of sending garbage out of the county by rail, but no one we have talked to in the waste business has ever heard of it happening before. However, it is not the first time hazardous materials have been found in the garbage. Car batteries, paint, motor oil, flammables, etc. all get dumped in the waste. These items can cause pollution problems and expensive environmental cleanups, but they also can create an immediate safety risk for our employees and the public.
Safe and economical disposal options do exist. Snohomish County operates a Household Hazardous Waste facility at 34th and MacDougall in Everett. Open Wednesday through Saturday, it accepts a wide range of hazardous materials so they can be safely reused, recycled, or disposed of. The service is free to homeowners (there is a fee for small businesses). So there is no reason for cans of chemicals to go into the dumpster – and no cause for explosions.
Jeff Kelley-Clarke
Snohomish County Public Works
Solid Waste Utility Director
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