One in every eight Pennsylvanians - 1.5 million people - lives close enough to facilities that store large amounts of ammonia to be at risk in a catastrophic chemical accident, according to a PublicSource analysis of federal records.
These records show what could happen in a worst-case scenario, where a large amount of hazardous chemical quickly leaks.
In Northeast Pennsylvania, PublicSource found eight facilities that use large amounts of anhydrous ammonia. The number of people living in a close enough radius to be affected in a worst-case leak scenario is 46,238. Most of these facilities use the chemical as a refrigerant.
Those figures include only residents. It does not count children at schools, shoppers, people in office buildings, churches, hospitals and prisons. Nor does it include the 38,000 workers at the plants that use the ammonia.
The 122 Pennsylvania facilities that store at least five tons of ammonia at any one time include a list of companies with household names: US Steel, Giant Eagle, Wal-Mart, Sysco, Tyson Foods, The Hershey Co. and Yuengling Brewery.
"The public has a right to know if they are living near a high-risk facility in order to protect themselves, their families and communities," said Sofia Plagakis, a policy analyst with the Right-to-Know Network, a Washington research organization that advocates for better health and safety standards.
The network database shows that the 122 Pennsylvania companies are spread throughout 43 counties that must file risk-management plans because they use large amounts of pure ammonia.
One purpose of the risk plans is to help the public understand the dangers of hazardous chemicals and to see that the company has a plan in case of an accident. But under EPA rules, one part of those plans, the worst-case scenarios, can be viewed only in government offices and an individual can examine no more than 10 reports a month.
So the PublicSource staff and six Point Park University journalism students examined all worst-case scenarios for ammonia.
Burning, blindness
Most people know ammonia by its smell or the odor of the much-diluted household-cleaning product.
Food-and-beverage makers use the pure form, known as anhydrous ammonia, to refrigerate their products; manufacturers to produce plastics, cleaners and explosives; farmers to fertilize crops; illicit drug-makers to make methamphetamine.
If it leaks, it vaporizes and binds to moisture in the human body. Small amounts irritate the eyes, nose, mouth and throat. More can burn the skin and respiratory passages or cause blindness. A large hit suffocates the person.
From 1996 to 2011, there were more than 900 ammonia accidents that killed 19 people and injured more than 1,600 in the nation, according to the RTK Network.
Accidents happen because companies neglect preventative maintenance or use untrained people, said Randall W.A. Davidson, a risk-management expert in Littleton, Colo., who has inspected ammonia facilities. "Because of that, they have fires and fatalities."
During the same time period, Pennsylvania had 18 ammonia accidents. No one was killed, but 27 people were injured.
Ammonia is easy to store safely, according to engineers, as long as the right equipment is used, equipment is kept in shape, and handlers are well-trained.
Reducing danger
Companies are required to keep records of the hazardous chemicals they use with county emergency service providers. David Hahn, director of emergency services for Lackawanna County, has files for the two companies in the county that use anhydrous ammonia: MIA Products in Rocky Glen Industrial Park, Moosic, and Americold, 91 First Ave., Covington Township.
Each folder contains a Pennsylvania Tier II Emergency and Hazardous Chemical Inventory form, updated yearly, Hahn said. The form details how much anhydrous ammonia is stored at each plant and where.
If a leak were to occur, county emergency dispatchers would coordinate a fire and police response, evacuate if necessary and send in a hazardous materials team, he said. Lackawanna County contracts its hazardous materials response to Datom Products, based in Dunmore.
In northern Luzerne County, RLS Logistics at 1075 Oak St. in Pittston also uses ammonia.
One purpose of the Clean Air Act is to prompt companies to use fewer toxic chemicals and install safer equipment. Airgas Inc., an $8.1 billion company based in Radnor, appears to have done so.
Airgas Specialty Products in Palmerton, near Allentown, buys ammonia in bulk, repackages it in smaller containers and ships it to manufacturers by rail and truck. The EPA classifies it as a high-risk facility because of the large population that lives within its worst-case scenario zone.
Airgas acquired the facility in 2005 from a company that used large storage tanks to produce ammonia. Last year Airgas installed smaller tanks, according to spokesman Barry Strzelec, reducing capacity from 4,000 tons to 236 tons.
Previously, Airgas reported that a toxic plume could reach 660,000 people living within 21 miles of the facility. That was, by far, the greatest potential impact of any ammonia facility in Pennsylvania.
Since the changes, the potential impact is five miles around the plant. Strzelec would not say how many people live in that zone because the EPA has yet to accept a new risk-management plan the company submitted on Jan. 3.
Airgas has "significantly reduced the potential impact" of a big accident, Martin Wehner, president of Airgas Specialty Products, wrote in an email.