News Samsung Austin Spilled 763,000 Gallons of Acid Waste Into Local Ecosystem

[Admin]

Over 100+ days, Samsung Austin discharged 763,000 gallons of acidic waste, killing most living creatures in a stormwater pond and a tributary of Harris Branch Creek says the council. Nearby waterway measured to be up to pH 3.

Samsung Austin Spilled 763,000 Gallons of Acid Waste Into Local Ecosystem : Read more

 

[drivinfast247]

Awesome!

Imagine what would happen if an individual got caught pouring just a gallon of acid into a river.

 

[peachpuff]

Awesome!

Imagine what would happen if an individual got caught pouring just a gallon of acid into a river.

Depends on which state, Texas? Who cares. California? Right to jail!

 

[Phaaze88]

WTFudge...
Spilled? Discharged? 100+ days?
That was deliberate diarrhea.

 

[Historical Fidelity]

Depends on which state, Texas? Who cares. California? Right to jail!

Umm absolutely wrong, Texas penal code calls for 2 years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine for illegal dumping in waterways. California’s penal code is lacking compared to Texas where a first offense calls for simply a $250-1000 fine and a slap on the wrist.

 

[Endymio]

Luckily, the main branch of the Harris Branch Creek appeared to be still unaffected by the catastrophe upstream.

Let's all make a mountain of a molehill, shall we? An "unnamed tributary" of a small creek was affected -- it returned to normal in a week, and only some river fish and frogs were killed. Perhaps the Austin City Council can spend a few million taxpayer dollars to convince people what a "catastrophe" this really was.

 

[USAFRet]

Let's all make a mountain of a molehill, shall we? An "unnamed tributary" of a small creek was affected -- it returned to normal in a week, and only some river fish and frogs were killed. Perhaps the Austin City Council can spend a few million taxpayer dollars to convince people what a "catastrophe" this really was.

Just one of the thousand other molehills like this.
Pretty soon, it is a mountain.

But your plastic straws...now those ARE a problem.

 

[InvalidError]

Awesome!

Imagine what would happen if an individual got caught pouring just a gallon of acid into a river.

Depends on what acid since a bunch of them are naturally occurring and not particularly dangerous. A gallon of vinegar wouldn't bother anyone after it has dispersed a bit. A gallon of fluoroantimonic acid would be potentially nasty news for everything in the area.

 

[jacob249358]

Depends on which state, Texas? Who cares. California? Right to jail!

Don't get freedom confused with not enforcing the law. Have you seen what the LA train tracks look like?
https://www.deseret.com/2022/1/19/22891982/los-angeles-freight-trains-looting-problem-becomes-worse
Those boxes are amazon and other boxes being robbed from the trains.
Or have you seen the extreme amount of homeless people on the streets in San Fran moving drugs and participating in crime?

 

[Historical Fidelity]

Don't get freedom confused with not enforcing the law. Have you seen what the LA train tracks look like?
https://www.deseret.com/2022/1/19/22891982/los-angeles-freight-trains-looting-problem-becomes-worse
Those boxes are amazon and other boxes being robbed from the trains.
Or have you seen the extreme amount of homeless people on the streets in San Fran moving drugs and participating in crime?

To make matters worse, the buildup of product boxes left by looters on the train tracks de-railed a train a week ago

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/t...Boulevard in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood.

 

[drivinfast247]

Depends on what acid since a bunch of them are naturally occurring and not particularly dangerous. A gallon of vinegar wouldn't bother anyone after it has dispersed a bit. A gallon of fluoroantimonic acid would be potentially nasty news for everything in the area.

Ok. I figured the acid type as poisonous/corrosive was implied. I was wrong.

 

[jacob249358]

To make matters worse, the buildup of product boxes left by looters on the train tracks de-railed a train a week ago

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/train-derails-outside-among-parcels-ransacked-by-thieves/ar-AASPwly#:~:text=A Union Pacific train full of packages derailed,and Valley Boulevard in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood.

Wow that's insane. It wouldn't take much to stop this. A few officers throughout the hot areas and it would stop. But no, defund the police because there was one bad cop

 

[InvalidError]

Ok. I figured the acid type as poisonous/corrosive was implied. I was wrong.

Sulfuric acid is naturally occurring and is the main acid in acid rain, though that wouldn't drop a puddle below PH 6.

The problem is PH dropping to 4 (similar to vinegar) where stuff cannot live in it - you cannot drink vinegar as a substitute for water and swimming in it is going to be caustic for eyes, nose and sensitive areas.

Since everything in the pond is already dead, they can dump some potassium hydroxide to neutralize most of the remaining sulphuric acid, then flush it out by diluting it down to a level that won't cause any more damage downstream.

The likely more problematic bits are whatever else might be in the chemical spillage: the sulphuric acid PH shock may have killed everything but it will sort itself out in due time if you simply dilute it enough while some toxic chemicals such as Dupont's C8 are considered "forever chemicals" because they have no safe concentration, don't break down naturally and are seemingly impossible to get rid of using practical methods.

 

[Endymio]

Since everything in the pond is already dead, they can dump some potassium hydroxide to neutralize most of the remaining sulphuric acid,

Mother Nature already took care of that. Per the article, PH levels had returned to normal within five days, thanks to normal water flow.

Just one of the thousand other molehills like this. Pretty soon, it is a mountain.

There isn't enough industrial manufacturing left in the US to cause a mountain. It's been driven overseas, in large part due to overly draconian environmental legislation. As for the "pretty soon there'll be a real problem" argument, does anyone recall "Silent Spring", the book credited with founding the environmental movement? "Pretty soon every bird in the world will be dead, and we'll hear no birdsong in the spring". That was 1962.

 

[King_V]

The likely more problematic bits are whatever else might be in the chemical spillage: the sulphuric acid PH shock may have killed everything but it will sort itself out in due time if you simply dilute it enough while some toxic chemicals such as Dupont's C8 are considered "forever chemicals" because they have no safe concentration, don't break down naturally and are seemingly impossible to get rid of using practical methods.

And that's the problem . . it doesn't say.

The result of the pollution, mostly sulfuric acid waste, isn't that surprising, with the Watershed Protection Department (WPD) staff reporting "virtually no surviving aquatic life" throughout the affected waterway.

What's unsaid is what's in there outside of that "mostly" part.

 

[USAFRet]

There isn't enough industrial manufacturing left in the US to cause a mountain. It's been driven overseas, in large part due to overly draconian environmental legislation.

(2021)

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China - 28.7%
US - 16.8% (about the same as the next 4 combined)

So...yeah the US still does have a significant manufacturing base.

 

[Endymio]

So...yeah the US still does have a significant manufacturing base.

Manufacturing is not industrial manufacturing. The US used to be the largest aluminum producer in the world. Today, China produces about 60 times what we do. Steel? China produces 15 times as much. Concrete, rare earths, you name it. The chemical industry is the same -- if one excludes chemicals used for fertilizers. The US of forty years ago supplied the world with manufactured goods. Now we import most of them from China, in exchange for food we grow here.

 

[jefferzbooboo]

Wow that's insane. It wouldn't take much to stop this. A few officers throughout the hot areas and it would stop. But no, defund the police because there was one bad cop

Or you could fire your own security guards and when you do get robbed, you blame the local DA. Then you demand police patrol your private business, passing the cost onto the taxpayer, while saving your business from having to pay for your own security.

 

[Endymio]

Or you could fire your own security guards and when you do get robbed, you blame the local DA. Then you demand police patrol your private business

Do you demand the police protect your private home, even though it costs taxpayer dollars to do so? Having private security guards in many areas of California is an enormous civil liability risk. If a crime does occur and one of your guards -- or even one of the perpetrators themselves -- is injured or killed, you could potentially be sued for an essentially limitless sum of money.

 

[USAFRet]

And this is going WAY off topic.

Lets rein it in, people.

Thanks.

 

[thepersonwithaface45]

Just one of the thousand other molehills like this.
Pretty soon, it is a mountain.

But your plastic straws...now those ARE a problem.

or even masks littered everywhere now.
but don't worry, we'll defeat climate change together!

eyes china and india nervously

***sorry, didn't realize there was ~20 posts on this now lol

 

[jacob249358]

Or you could fire your own security guards and when you do get robbed, you blame the local DA. Then you demand police patrol your private business, passing the cost onto the taxpayer, while saving your business from having to pay for your own security.

Oh wow I wasn't actually aware of that. But @Endymio does have a good point.