A spill of nitric acid at red fruit company Hubel in Pechão, Olhão, forced the closure of a public road, until the chemical was made safe and removed.
When firefighters arrived at the site, 1,000 litres of the highly toxic and corrosive chemical had spilled from a tank onto the road.
Bombeiros were called, the Portuguese Environment Agency was alerted and the local mayor, António Pina, said that everything was cleaned up safely.
"Our mission was to make a containment barrier with sand and, according to product specifications, the spill was covered in sand. The Portuguese Environment Agency was in place and will now be the company responsible for the removal of the waste," said the Bombeiros chief.
The acid spill occurred during the transport of a nitric acid in a container.
This highly corrosive acid is used to flush out drip and spray irrigation systems used by Hubel in its artificial, controlled environment greenhouses where chemically induced red fruits are grown for export.
The question that has not been covered by the various bodies involved, is what normally happens to the diluted acid after flushing?
Being a major local employer of hundreds of subsistence-level foreign workers, Hubel is unlikely to face official censure for this serious occurrence.
Comments
Hi Avril and thanks for your comments.
If you get some horrible illness because of dirty production machines you will blame who????
I have not suggested horrible illnesses. The acid is used to dissolve any blockages in the nozzles of the irrigation equipment.
Will you stop people buying and eating the fruit???? NO!!! We live in a world of blame, someone always has to be blamed, the poor public can never rest easy for a minute without some articale of dred triggering their anger about crap.
This is the primary role of much media.
Do you have no concept of the anquish most Algarvians are in at the moment with the fires?
Yes – rather more than ‘a concept,’ in fact.
Get a life.
Thanks for the advice.
Give people something they can feel good about.
I report on what is going on, not all of it is good news. I could fill algarvedailynews with happy stories of uncorrupt councils, charming officials, toll-free motoring, lovely tourist resorts being built on bird sanctuaries, the benefits of a domestic oil business and the jobs he first spill will bring to the region, but that’s not life, is it?
As for having "no concept of the anquish most Algarvians are in at the moment with the fires?" what on earth has this got to do with a corrosive acid spill at Hubel? How are the two related?
I am pretty damn sure Ed has as much empathy with those affected as everyone else here and has covered the saddening Monchique fire events daily.
Sorry if the fire was 'bad news' too. The PM tried to turn it into good news and has been ridiculed for his attempt.
Anyway, the article did not state that 'dirty production machines' whatever those are, would make us ill.
The acid is used to dissolve cal in the irrigation sprays and nozzles - the legitimate question was - what happens to this solution after cleaning?