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FDEP: Ascend Reports Chemical Release; Unpermitted Discharge
April 17, 2022
Ascend Performance Materials in Cantonment has reported a chemical spill and unpermitted discharge, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Projection.
According to Ascend, the manufacturing plant is currently in a turnaround in which 90% of the plant will be shut down.
Friday morning, “a drain valve located in cyclohexane dump tanks was found open and releasing cyclohexane into the diked area and was draining to the ground,” a FDEP report states.
Ascend reported the drain valve was closed, the fire alarm was activated, the area was barricaded off and the ditch was secured. The incident lasted less than one hour.
Cyclohexane can be harmful if swallowed or inhaled. It can cause eye and skin irritation, respiratory symptoms, drowsiness, or coma in high enough concentrations, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
Also Saturday morning, two cooling towers “overflowed releasing an unpermitted discharge in excess of 1000 gallons to stormwater outfall,” a FDEP report states. The company blocked stormwater drains and ditches to prevent any further discharge into the stormwater outfall.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
23 Responses to “FDEP: Ascend Reports Chemical Release; Unpermitted Discharge”
Yes concerned citizen. I do know what cyclohexane is. I worked in this area of concern for the last 20 years of my 37 years at this plant. You said you understand mistakes are made. You are right. Any mistake could be avoided . No one would make this mistake on purpose. I will say the only person that has never made a mistake is the person that has never done anything. We should be glad this mistake was found and corrected before it got out of hand. We weren’t there so we don’t know what or how it happened. Let’s hope and pray that they get through this plant overhaul with out any more problems .
Big Boy…yes these plants have been here since the 50’s. However, they are not ran in the same manner as they used to be. The mentality of at least Ascend has changed. Do you know what Cyclohexane is? Look up the Flixborough disaster. That was a fraction of the amount of inventory that Ascend has on hand. My family has worked there since it opened in 1952. Three generations to be exact. I understand mistakes happen but that mistake could have been avoided and could hast cost hundreds of lives. Get good people and keep good people!!!
These plants have been here since the early 50s. You moved in on them , they didn’t move in on you. They have done more good for this area than most. I among many others worked and spent our earnings in our community. Probly even in some of your business . If you don’t know what you are talking just keep your mouth shut and remain ignart. These company’s spend millions of dollars each year to local suppliers. Which sped there money at other business , of which maybe you work for. Your paycheck. Think first before you put your company out of business or maybe just loose your paycheck. There is always the option of moving somewhere else that you feel better about it you can find that place.
Northwest FL sold their souls/soils to the devil. Not to mention our air and water. Escambia River is a cesspool and that cantonment smell is atrocious. I often wonder if our rivers and springs were ever as beautiful as our Florida sister rivers and springs.
Sorry, but working in one part of a plant, doesn’t mean that you’re an expert on ALL plant operations. I’m old enough to know better and to know that this particular plant pays its fines rather than fix the real problems, so stop pretending that they do everything by the book, because they DON’T!!!
@Northescambia.com staff, I too want to thank you for the job you do, this organization does a better job than the local printed paper, which I don’t waste my time on anymore because I get better reporting right here on northescambia.org
These comments are awful. People are really meat heads. It’s disappointing. It’s like you all ok with getting cancer and justification for sloppy chemical handling.. Just because it’s reported properly doesn’t make it right. And our children’s future on this planet matters more than money. Animals
@Higgy & Joe, apparently you know little to nothing about the history of this plant or that of the paper mill!!! These two industries has been doing nothing but polluting our area with chemical spills, other accidental discharges and other regulatory violations that they ignored for 50+ years, because it’s easier to pay the fine than fix the problem.
Yes, these two plants should be shutdown because my community’s environment is more important than the plant or its employees paychecks, because without a safe place to live and play, the money doesn’t matter, because it will be spent on cancer treatments and other medical ailments associated with these industries!!!
First of all, thank you William @ NorthEscambia for reporting this. Also, thank you to Ascend for reporting this. Yes, cyclohexane is bad but they have implemented a safety procedure to capture these products that may be released. You can bet that they are inline with OSHA being they have been tagged by VPP as a top 100 plant that does all they can to stay in compliance with OSHA as well as the EPA. That cooling tower water released? Like it was stated above…the same chemical makeup in your swimming pool is as how it is in the Cooling towers…the uneducated are always the one that want to close a place down when something like this happens. Ascend is in the middle of a huge outage. Yes, those on the payroll out there in a permanent way puts a lot of money into the econoy as does those traveling workers out there now. Get educated about the places of employment around you before you look like a fool commenting on what you don’t know.
@ Joe & Higgy
Your spot on.
Worked in this industry 45 years and you always have uneducated squawking.
Sad part is, its easier to play chicken little than get educated.
Those plants make a hell of a lot more finished goods they are not aware of.
99% of those chicken littles could not pronounce the names of all the chemicals in the plants.
They watch too much Radium Man movies.
Start clucking!!!
Thats all you know!
PERIOD.
Mike, cooling tower water is process water. That process water has chemicals in it. It in turned went straight to the river through the north outfall. Secondly, the drains on those tanks are not a 1/2 or 3/4 drain. It was most likely the 1 1/2 to 2 inch manual drain valve. Cyclohexane is EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE and can find an ignition source fairly easily. Not to mention if that part of the plant were to go up so would the butane spheres and the ammonia tanks.
Almost all the plastic parts under the hood of your car are made from these pellets. Airbags are made from these pellets. They save lives, you know. Electric connectors are made from these pellets, fishing lines too. And lots of other stuff.
To William in Beulah. Angela asked what was 1000 gallons that went into the storm drains. Not to be rude, the article states very clearly it was discharge from cooling towers. Guess what. They don’t use cyclohexane in cooling towers. Cyclohexane was released too, we don’t know how much though.
So most people assume the worse when it come to a leak or spill. It’s not always that baby. And yes, they all get reported and proper precautions are taken. The employees at the ascend plant, paper mill, and other industry around the area make good money off there products. That money employees make goes into our local businesses. And that’s good for the community. So I feel we should all be glad they are reporting spills and doing the right things. Plus being good employer’s for the area.
They make alot of money off those plastic pellets. Most of ur vehicle dashboards and door panels are made from plastic pellets.
When I was with the volunteer fire department in Cantonment and this was Monsanto, Ensley and Cantonment fire departments used to go door to door (within a certain mile radius of the plant) with a bag of pamphlets and “goodies” from the plant that explained what they did and what chemicals they used to do it for each household. It also explained what the warning sirens meant and what do do in case of a spill. It served as good public relations for the plant and let us meet the neighbors that we served. Too bad they don’t still doo that.
Really? A plant has an incident and you bashers is all you can do? Shut them.down??? WOW!!!!! Bet you wouldn’t shout out shut the Power plant down if they spilled into the river from their cooling towers would you. Be knowledgeable about incidents before you make stupid foolish job causing comments. Was it in a Dike? YES, so it was contained. And for you fools who don’t know, chemicals in a swimming pool are the same as cooling tower water, it’s to keep algae and the water pH in check to keep using it. Glad nobody was hurt and your company acted promptly.
This is why we need more local reporting (not just here, everywhere) that’s accessible and not held behind a paywall. I know they gotta keep the lights on somehow, but it feels like hostage negotiations to know what’s happening around me.
Suffice it to say– keep up the good work here!
Not trying to be rude, but it clearly states in the article that it was cyclohexane that was released.
This is just the one incident that they told us about!!! How many happen that we don’t know about!!
What was the 1000 gallons that went into the storm drains ?
Because plastic pellets is the only thing that comes from this plant right, Russel?? WRONG.
Is all this worth some plastic pellets?
So….someone “accidentally” opened the drain? If only people knew.
here’s hoping they get fined an enormous amount of money.
Talking about the toxicity of cyclohexane, it’s about the same as that of gasoline. Is it bad? Yes, but not enough for lawyers to file cancer etc. claims.