TERMINAL ISLAND - A 37 year-old longshoreman was taken to the hospital on Thursday evening, June 30, 2011, after possible exposure to a substance spilled at a freight yard in the Port of Los Angeles.

Twenty-eight Los Angeles Fire Department personnel - including an LAFD Hazardous Materials Squad, under the command of Battalion Chief Raymundo Gomez, were summoned at 6:52 P.M. to the Yusen Terminal at 701 East New Dock Street on Terminal Island.

The worker, who complained of a headache and general malaise, told first-arriving LAFD Paramedics that his symptoms commenced immediately after noting a substance on the ground near a sealed 20' cargo container.

Though no evacuations were necessary, harbor-area protocol brought the interagency response of personnel from the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Port Police, Long Beach Fire Department, U.S. Coast Guard and L.A. County Fire Department Health Hazardous Materials Division.

LAFD Hazmat experts opened the locked cargo container to find it half-filled with 55-gallon drums containing Hydrogen Peroxide. Following a methodical investigation of nearly two and a half-hours, they determined that the freight was intact, and that pint of 'resin-like' liquid seen on the ground was not associated with the suspect container and of no escalating hazard.

The ill dock worker was taken by LAFD ambulance in good condition to the Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in San Pedro for further evaluation, as a private on-site cleanup firm removed the yet-identified substance under the guidance of health officials.


Dispatched Units: E40 RA36 E48 T48 E248 SQ48 RA848 BC6 EM6 RA112

Submitted by Brian Humphrey, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department

READ MORE - LAFD HazMat Responds When Dock Worker Takes Ill

On Saturday, October 23, 2010 at 4:15 PM, 5 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 7 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 2 Fireboats, 1 Rehab Unit, 1 Hazardous Materials Team, 1 EMS Battalion Captain, 1 Battalion Chief Officer Command Team and 1 Division Chief Officer Command Team, a total of 50 Los Angeles Fire Department personnel under the direction of Battalion Chief Michael Thomas, responded to a Hazardous Materials Investigation at Berth 303 on Terminal Island in the Port of Los Angeles.

Firefighters arrived quickly to investigate an odor aboard the recently docked APL Sweden, a 909-foot long cargo ship of Liberian registry.

The seven crew members and other dock workers were swiftly evacuated upwind from the fully loaded vessel, as a safety perimeter and the Joint Command of LAFD, U.S. Coast Guard, Port Police and Homeland Security officials was established.

The odor, first believed to be associated with a gallon or more of liquid discovered near a shipping container, was instead determined by LAFD Hazardous Materials experts to be emanating from a pair of twenty-foot cargo containers nearby.

Nearly two hours into the incident, eight earlier evacuated port workers complaining of respiratory irritation and nausea joined their colleague who had first noted the odor, in being assessed by LAFD Paramedics. Three of these nine men, all described as in good condition, were ultimately taken to area hospitals via LAFD Ambulance for a more thorough medical evaluation.

With the assistance of longshoremen operating a dockside crane, the twin cargo containers loaded with Xylenol were skilfully wrapped in impervious sheeting in a diaper-like fashion, before being loaded onto a trailer under the watchful eye of responders.

Great care was taken by Los Angeles Fire Department personnel to assure that no product leaked into harbor waterways or created an escalating hazard.

The containers were gingerly transported to a remote section of the port, where a privately-contracted hazardous material management firm was to handle the matter to conclusion under the observation of the Health Hazardous Materials Division of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.


Submitted by Brian Humphrey, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department

READ MORE - Three Workers Sickened by Fumes in Port of Los Angeles