An investigator from the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday that it could take up to a year to complete an inquiry into Thursday’s hazmat spill in Beach Park that sent at least 37 people to area hospitals.
A total of four NTSB investigators joined local and state officials on Green Bay Road near 29th Street, where authorities say anhydrous ammonia spilled from tanks being hauled by a farm tractor before dawn on Thursday.
NTSB spokesman Timothy DePaepe said at a press conference outside the Benton Township office, which is just yards away from the incident scene, that investigators will be taking the John Deere tractor and the trailer with side-by-side 1,000 gallon tanks that contained the anhydrous ammonia to a manufacturing plant in Illinois.
Once there, DePaepe added, investigators plan on dismantling parts of the machine and sending pieces to the NTSB’s Washington, D.C., office for analysis.
He said the investigation could take up to a year depending on the agency’s workload, but all the results will eventually be put online at NTSB.gov.
“Other things we will focus on is looking at the emergency response from the first call to dispatch on,” DePaepe said. “We’ll be interviewing all the injured and as many of the police and fire personnel as we can.”
Around 4:30 a.m. on Thursday, the pair of two-ton tanks containing anhydrous ammonia began to leak while being towed by a tractor on Green Bay Road, according to authorities. A cloud of gas from the leak went airborne, causing injuries to emergency personnel and nearby residents who inhaled the toxic fumes.
According to a statement released late Thursday by Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg, the 37 people sent to area hospitals included 11 firefighters, two sheriff’s deputies and one police officer. One firefighter was among seven people listed in critical condition on Thursday.
On Friday, sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Christopher Covelli said only one first responder remained hospitalized in intensive care but is expected to make a full recovery.
There were still seven people in critical condition Friday at Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan, according to Covelli. He added there was one person in addition to the original 37 people reported as taken to hospitals, but that patient was in good condition at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital and is due to be released in the near future.
Newport Township Fire District Chief Mark Kirchhoffer confirmed that the firefighter still in intensive care is a member of his department and gave an update on this condition Friday afternoon.
"The young man is doing better," Kirchhoffer said. "He's just in for observation now, but we're not sure when he will be released.”
Covelli said there were several victims who had to be intubated, where a tube is put down their throat so the airway doesn't close up and to assist with breathing. Those patients would require more care and observation, he said.
Covelli did not release the tractor driver’s name, but said he was a 59-year-old from Sturtevant, Wis. The driver had left a farm field in Pleasant Prairie, Wis., and was on his way to a farm field in Beach Park Thursday morning when the toxic plume erupted.
“Both driver and the owner of the tractor are cooperating,” Covelli said.
DePaepe said that farm equipment is exempt from a lot of rules, but investigators will be looking at what happened, because their mandate is to look at what happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Anhydrous ammonia is used as a fertilizer less in Lake County than it used to be, Lake County Farm Bureau Executive Director Greg Koeppen said on Friday.
Many local farmers have switched to other fertilizers, which don’t remain effective as long as anhydrous ammonia but carry less of a safety risk, as the area became more urbanized, Koeppen added.
In Illinois, farmers towing nurse tanks with anhydrous ammonia — like other farmers taking equipment from field to field — just need a regular driver’s license, Secretary of State spokesman Dave Druker said.
Other regulations administered by the Illinois Department of Agriculture address the transportation of the chemical itself. Those regulations cover the required thickness of the tanks, how they should be towed and what equipment is mandated to prevent spills, according to the department’s administrative rules.
[ READ MORE: What you need to know about anhydrous ammonia, the chemical spilled in Beach Park ]
Additional requirements, such as requiring a “Slow Moving Vehicle” placard and not going over 25 mph, are covered by the Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Morgan Booth said.
Lake County doesn’t have any additional regulations over the ones mandated by the state and federal governments, Koeppen said, though an Illinois State Police official said some areas do.
Incidents like Thursday’s are “rare,” said Koeppen, who, in his 21 years in the area, hasn’t seen another leak like this.
Farmers are “overly cautious” in how they handle chemicals like anhydrous ammonia because it’s their livelihood and often their own lives on the line, Koeppen added. The last thing they want to do is “hurt the environment, hurt themselves or hurt others.”
Free training is offered online and in person to keep farmers up to date on chemical safety, Koeppen said.
U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, who said an investigation is important to determine how the accident occurred and what steps could prevent similar incidents from happening again, said he spoke Friday with officials at the NTSB and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, both of which dispatched teams to Beach Park to investigate.
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Schneider, whose district includes Beach Park, said in a statement he asked that the agencies look at whether the local fire and police departments were properly notified and fully prepared with the necessary training and equipment to safely respond.
“We have a responsibility to provide our first responder heroes, who put their lives on the line to save others, the resources they need to keep themselves safe,” Schneider said in the statement.
At Thursday’s spill, Idelburg said, approximately 140 first responders assisted at the scene.
“I wish to take a brief moment and commend all of our Lake County Sheriff’s Deputies, police officers from nearly twenty area police departments, and all of the firefighters who risked their lives today to help others,” Idleburg said in a statement. “You are an amazing group of men and women.
“To those who remain in the hospital, the men and women of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office wish you a fast recovery.”
Friday’s investigation was also expected to include participation from the Illiniois State Police, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, according to Beach Park Fire Chief Paul Tierney.
Idleburg thanked the Beach Park community for its support during Thursday’s incident, and asked for patience during the investigation.