Sickening Smell Lingers Post Chemical Leak In South Jersey

SOUTH JERSEY — The words “there is no threat to the public” are hard to swallow for some who have been inundated with the chemical odor of a leaking truck for almost two days.

Wednesday afternoon, a TransChem USA truck hauling 7,000 gallons of a Lubrizol-made chemical began “leaking” or “venting” (officials have used both words) gas, say local emergency responders. Read more — South Jersey Chemical Leak: Cause Identified But Scent May Linger

Officials have not yet said why the truck was releasing gas.

The driver stopped at the Travel Center Truck Stop on Berkeley Road around 3 p.m. as residents in Gloucester and Camden counties began reporting an odor like rotten eggs, or burning petroleum.

People in South Philadelphia and 50 miles away in Burlington County caught the scent on the air, too.

Mercaptan, a sulfur compound additive, is what people are smelling, officials said Friday.

What people are experiencing

Some are feeling sick, and getting worried that the smell will cause long-term health effects.

Local officials, the chemical company, and the trucking company hauling Lubrizol 1389 say there is no threat to the public.

Representatives from multiple agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Environmental Protection, have been "continuously on scene monitoring air quality," officials said.

The Gloucester County Office of Emergency Management said air readings "show it is safe to be outside."

"Mild symptoms inclusive of eye and skin irritation or headaches remain a possibility for those smelling this odor," the office said.

People in the area have reported these symptoms, and others, as they wait to hear a full explanation for what happened. They are worried about their pets, too.

Mike Britt Jr., of Glassboro, packed up and left Wednesday. Britt said the air didn’t smell fresh until he was about 15 minutes from Atlantic City.

“I get to the next town, and I get to the next town. And I’m still smelling it,” he said. “I’m feeling dizzy, and I’m thinking, ‘oh no, is it safe to drive?’”

He said he sat in the non-smoking section of a casino for a while, because he knew the air quality would be good. Britt, a cancer survivor, felt better after a while and went back to his apartment that night. But something didn't feel normal.

“I’m trying to sleep, and my head does not feel right,” he said. “I had to be honest with myself, my heart was pounding.”

Britt took a bus to the hospital that next day. His tests were normal, he said, but he is still nervous about other people who may be sick.

Local mom Nicole Grogan told Patch she has a child with chemical sensitivity, so she ran air purifiers in her home all Wednesday afternoon.

“The smell today was so overpowering, I would be surprised if people do not develop issues from it, and I feel like the county is downplaying it,” she told Patch Wednesday.

Grogan said the smell was "lingering inside" on Friday morning, but seemed to be dissipating outside.

"Luckily (my) kids and animals aren’t having any issues here," Grogan said.

"I have a friend who lives in Paulsboro," Grogan continued, "who had to take her and her 13-year-old son to a hotel because the smell was so bad and making my friend really sick: headache, eyes, nose and throat burning. She’s really concerned about her animals, though."

Law enforcement officials are asking people not to call 911 unless they have a real emergency. Gloucester Township police said their dispatch center is “getting overwhelmed” with calls from residents who smell the gas outside or inside their homes.

The cleanup and mitigation efforts in East Greenwich Township are still ongoing, law enforcement and emergency responders say. Gloucester County Hazmat, the state Department of Environmental Protection, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency are still there.

TransChem USA has two call lines open: one for environmental and health concerns (856-807-5388) and one for people wanting to file insurance claims 855-476-7817.

The Gloucester County Office of Emergency Management has opened a call center for any questions or concerns residents have regarding this incident. The call center phone number is 856-384-6800 and will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Camden County officials do not appear to have their own call line, but put out an update Thursday morning. Hazmat teams and first responders from around the county have been at the leak area since Wednesday afternoon, the county said.

The smell “will not negatively impact Camden County residents,” the county said.

What we know about the chemical

There is not a company fact sheet for Lubrizol 1389, but there is one for Lubrizol 1395, which is also a zinc alkyldithophosphate. According to that fact sheet, the chemical should be stored between 45 and 113 degrees Fahrenheit. The flash point (temperature at which it begins giving off an ignitable vapor) is about 214 degrees Fahrenheit.

If heated to decomposition, at 421 degrees Fahrenheit, zinc alkyldithophosphate can burn off toxic hydrogen sulfide. It also will give off aklyl mercaptans, the compound added to natural gas to make a bad smell.

There is no data available on its evaporation rate.

Lubrizol 1395 is toxic to marine life, and classified as an environmentally hazardous substance by the United Nations. The company says its health hazards “have been well-studied in animals.”

Chemicals in this family “have not been tested in carcinogenicity studies,” according to Lubrizol.

“Genotoxicity studies and studies of formulated products indicate that they are not carcinogenic,” the company said in another fact sheet page for lubricant additives like Lubrizol 1395 and 1389.

Chemicals in the zinc dialkyl alkyldithiophosphate group, or ZDDPs, are used as machine lubricants, according to the American Chemical Society's molecule of the eek. These chemicals "are very effective antiwear agents," and include motor oils, hydraulic oils, and greases. But they also can harm the environment, as ACS said in the 2019 article:

“Currently, concerns over ZDDPs’ environmental effects are driving efforts to curtail or eliminate their use. But no one has found a substitute that performs quite as well; and how harmful ZDDPs actually are at the level of usage is the topic of some rather heated discussions among lubricant formulators, vintage car enthusiasts, and environmental advocacy groups.”

The ACS article also indicates commercial ZDDPs “almost always contain a mixture of alkyl groups.”

“The specific mixture used depends on the type of lubricant and metallurgy involved. Shorter-chain alkyl groups, however, are the least thermally stable; they thus make protective films more easily.”

Two big fires at Lubrizol plants have made news in recent years: the first was in France, in 2019.

In 2021, a Lubrizol-owned chemical plant in Rockton, Ill. caught fire and the EPA issued several pollution violations.

And in 2021, a Houston mother sued the company after a chemical plant leak left her and her daughters with long-lasting symptoms like wheezing, headaches, and stomachaches.

Lubrizol, based in Ohio, is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. TransChem USA is based in Texas and has offices in Louisiana and South Carolina, according to the company website.

Both companies sent out statements Thursday that did not offer much explanation. You can read them in this article.