Centre County hazardous waste collection event evacuated

BELLEFONTE, Pa. (WTAJ) – A household hazardous waste collection event organized by the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority (CCRRA) was evacuated Friday afternoon.

CCRRA posted on Facebook that the event had to be closed down as of 1:40 p.m. Friday, April 26. HAZMAT and the CCRRA contractor have evacuated the event “out of an abundance of caution as they are dealing with an explosive material,” according to Amy Schirf, Education Coordinator for CCRRA.

Two different chemicals were brought in for disposal as part of the event when the chemical contractor on scene identified one of them as an explosive. The chemicals were fairly old, according to Rob Nese, Captain of Special Operations for Centre Region Fire Protection, and one was unlabeled.

Nese said that although these chemicals were not by themselves dangerous, chemicals can become dangerous over time depending on if they are properly stored or not as many chemicals will break down or react with air and light.

After the chemicals were deemed too dangerous to transport, a bomb squad was called in to detonate them using a counter charge. The team used a robot to pick up the chemical and transport it to a safe place. Sand was dumped on top of the chemical bottle to act as a shield.

“It went off without a hitch,” Nese said. “So they got everything wired up. They did their checks, were able to activate the counter charge and the chemical basically vaporized in and burned up almost instantly, rendering everything totally safe.”

The material was detonated shortly before 4:30 p.m. and, according to our team at the scene, the blast was strong enough to shake nearby cars.

“The most important thing is that no one was hurt. We are sorry for the inconvenience that this is causing. None of us thought this was going to happen. This just never happens at our event,” Schirf said. “But at least we have people here that are able to deal with it safely and they know what they’re doing. So that’s great.”

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Those registered to dispose of their hazardous materials at the event today are asked to come back Saturday between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.

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