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David Weiss dweiss@leader.net
Tuesday, February 08, 2000 Page: 8B
Nanticoke-City and environmental officials today plan to remove remaining
barrels from an abandoned warehouse property and raze the partially collapsed
structure where nitric acid was stored. Nanticoke Mayor John Toole on Monday
morning said the Moser Street property will be part of an emergency
demolition. Toole said the state will pay for the acid removal but the city
must pay for demolition. The Luzerne County Emergency Management Agency and
the Department of Environmental Protection were called to the scene in the
city’s Hanover section on Sunday to examine the contents of barrels found
inside the warehouse. Members of the Old Forge based Teem Environmental
Services Inc. removed the barrels without entering the building. They did so
by simply reaching inside for the barrels at the point where the wall had
collapsed. The structure’s walls are buckling and cleanup crews were not
allowed inside. DEP spokesman Mark Carmon said five or six barrels of nitric
acid – a colorless, fuming substance that is highly corrosive – were removed.
He said the acid was in barrels labeled as nitric acid and the substance field
tested as a strong acid. Carmon said the acid could burn anyone coming in
contact with it and officials must secure the substance before taking it to a
waste site. The nitric acid was expected to be removed from the scene by
Monday evening a DEP official said. Call Weiss at 829-7242.