A freight train carrying tanks of yellow phosphorus, a chemical that is both poisonous and flammable, derailed in Lviv Region
Ukrainian officials have said that a toxic chemical spill in the west of the country is under control, but independent experts warn that the danger has still not passed.
A freight train carrying tanks of yellow phosphorus, a chemical that is both poisonous and flammable, derailed in Lviv Region late afternoon on Monday, July 16, setting off a blaze.
The cloud of smoke that ensued covered around 90 kilometers of surrounding territory, including 14 villages with 11,000 residents, the Ministry of Health reported.
As the Post went to press on Wednesday, July 18, at least 1,000 people had evacuated their homes and almost 70 had been hospitalized for exposure to noxious fumes.
The Environment Ministry announced that concentrations of phosphorus residue in the air over some of the villages were tens of times higher than normal.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk, who visited the scene of the spill on July 17, compared the accident to the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster.
“A disaster has happened. After the Chornobyl catastrophe we are confronted with a situation that can pose a real threat to our people,” said Kuzmuk.
But by the next day, after emergency teams had extinguished the fire, Kuzmuk tried to allay lingering fears.
“People can breath the air calmly, drink the water from their wells, graze their cattle,” said Kuzmuk, who was forced to resign as defense minister in October 2001 after the Ukrainian military mistakenly shot down a passenger liner over the Black Sea.
Local officials have also been playing down the extent of the danger.
Pavel Vasylenko, a spokesman for the Emergency Ministry in Lviv, said on July 18 that “there were clouds from the blaze, but they dissipated several hours after the fire had been localized, and there is currently no threat to the lives or health of people in the area, including in the vicinity of the accident.”
Nevertheless, concerns remain.
Yellow phosphorus can burst into flames on contact with air at temperatures greater than 40 degrees Centigrade. If ingested, it can cause liver damage and other health problems.
Phosphorus compounds are primarily used in fertilizers, but also components of pesticides, toothpaste and detergents.
David Santillo of Greenpeace’s International Science Unit in the UK told the Post that it’s too early for Ukrainian officials to be dismissing threats to people and the environment.
“Issuing an all-clear message shortly after an accident is unwise,” he said.
Santillo said yellow phosphorus is used to make bombs, in addition to consumer goods.
If it spilled on the ground, it has to be covered with sand or it can reignite, and if it gets into the water or food chain it can pose a danger for several years to come, he added.
“You can measure the total [general] phosphorus level, but that won’t tell you how much of the toxic white phosphorus is in the environment. You only need a little to cause serious problems.”
The European Commission has offered Ukraine assistance in monitoring the extent of the pollution.
The train, which was traveling from Kazakhstan to Poland, derailed near Lviv on the Polish border. Fifteen of the train’s 58 cars overturned, with six catching fire.
Immediately following the accident, which produced a toxic cloud above a large rural area in western Ukraine, officials advised local residents to stay inside, not to use well water or eat vegetables from their gardens.
As hundreds of rescue workers and cleanup crews worked to put out the fire and sprinkle the land with sand and soda, around 1,000 villagers evacuated their homes.
Officials said the evacuation was not forced.
The Lviv Region Prosecutor’s Office has opened a criminal case, but no charges had been filed as the Post went to press.
Minister of Transport Mykola Rudkovskiy said the accident was likely caused by problems with the tanks in which the phosphorus was stored.
“For now, it’s difficult to assess, but what happened was probably caused by the technical condition of the tanks used in the transport,” he said in Kyiv July 18.
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, whose government has been criticized over the accident by the opposition Byut faction, has promised punishment for the guilty.
“If we see that some people are responsible for the accident, they will be punished in correspondence with the law,” he told a government meeting.
The company that shipped the phosphorus, the Kazakhstan-based Novodzhambulskiy Phosphorus Plant, which is owned by Kazphosphat Ltd., has denied any wrongdoing.
“The given party of yellow phosphorus was transferred in full compliance with technical rules in technically functional tanks,” reads a statement released by KazPhosphat.
The Emergency Ministry said that it was planning to start moving the containers on Thursday, July 19, which might cause more leakage.
“Everything will depend on how the situation goes during the fulfillment of one or another task. But we will be ready for any emergency events that might take place,” said First Deputy Head of the Emergency Ministry in Lviv Region Ivan Didukh.
“I hope that we will think through everything so that we don’t make any mistakes,” he added.
