A rail car filled with hazardous material was put under supervision by local first responders in the West Desert on Monday after its contents became highly pressurized, according to the North Tooele Fire District.
The call for the pressurized railcar of hazardous material came in around 4 p.m. after Clean Harbors contacted first responders, according to a media release from NTFD. The chemicals were being transported from Dow Chemical in Texas to Clean Harbors incinerator at Aragonite, the release said.
NFTD, Mountain West Ambulance and Tooele County Emergency Management staff responded to the railcar.
The exact chemical contained in the railcar was unknown but the class was, said NTFD Public Information Officer Ryan Willden. The chemical had a boiling point of 68 degrees Fahrenheit, which made it especially sensitive to the heat and altitude in the West Desert, he said.
A storm moving into the area made the situation potentially more dangerous, as the hazardous material was flammable and lightning strikes were suspected in the area, Willden said.
It took seven hours of temperature readings to monitor the hazardous material as it cooled and the pressure subsided, the release said.
Once the pressure returned to normal, the tanker railcar was resealed and Dow Chemical sent a response team to pick up the railcar and its material, according to the release.