Campbell University resides in the heart of Harnett County. Geographically, the county has a number of small lakes, rivers, and farmland that distinguish it as a rural, agricultural county. It also borders Wake County and therefore contains a number of truck routes leaving the Triangle. Highways are a primary mode of transportation, and seven major highways go throughout Harnett county. Due to its unique location, Campbell University and its students are susceptible to hazardous materials being carried on highways, railroads, and an airport close to the campus. Hazardous materials can be commonly defined as liquids, solids, or gases, which could cause harm or injury to a person if they were exposed to it.1
The purpose of this study was to identify hazardous materials that were gathered from US 421 and other surrounding areas that could potentially affect the health of staff and students at Campbell University. Hazardous materials, while not dangerous if contained and isolated, when spilled or caught on fire, become a risk to staff and students’ health. In order for Harnett County officials and Campbell University to properly prepare for the potential, they should have current knowledge of all the potential threats that they may face.
We hypothesized, both through prior knowledge of the transport trucking industry and through reason, that most trucks containing hazardous materials would drive at night in order to avoid traffic from pedestrian vehicles. We also hypothesized the material we would see the most would be gasoline. The information of the contents is displayed through the use of placards on the outside of the trucks. The tankers that are unlabelled are assumed to be either empty or did not have enough of a chemical to require a placard. The amount of hazardous material requiring placarding varies depending on the hazardous material being transported as well as its concentration.
After meeting with our preceptor David Hesselmeyer he advised us that if a hazardous incident were to happen we would need to evacuate campus at least 2 miles out. NC HWY 421 E and US 421 S are the two major highways that run through campus, trucks travel mainly down US 421. We came up as a group that it would be best to sit alongside US 421 to do our hazmat study. Team Prepare came up with an excel sheet with divided times to count trucks along the highway. We thought that trucks would most likely travel during the night hours due to aggressive traffic during the day time hours. We counted trucks over a 24 hour period, the time frame consisted through Monday morning - Friday morning. During our slots for counting the trucks, we sat at the Exxon station and recorded each passing a truck with a plaque. During the night time hours counting trucks, it was hard to see the placards, the placards are usually placed on the back but they can also be placed on the sides of the truck. If we counted trucks at night someone would bring binoculars so that we were accurately able to collect our data. In the chart above you will see that more trucks passed through campus between the hours of 6 am and 9 am. We concluded that during those times trucks are traveling down US 421 at the same time as commuters and staff members.
When putting our data together we were provided Emergency Response Guides from Patrick Meece a member of Team Prepare. He works as an EMC and was able to supply us with books for information about hazardous materials. Completing our data collection we observed a total off one hundred and eleven trucks. We hypothesized that gasoline would be the most traveled through our campus, but it turned out to be Methanol. If methanol spills and is ignited, the vapors would form an explosive mixture with the air. They can travel close to the ground and may easily be ignited in sewers, and cause poison hazards indoors. Contact with vapors in the air may irritate and burn the skin or eyes, be toxic, and cause suffocation or dizziness if inhaled. Many of flammable gases and liquids that were counted have similar health hazards if a fire becomes involved.
Interesting data we also found was we collected data for more trucks passing through with no placards on them and identified them as being tankers. We also found that Liquid Petroleum Gas was the second-highest hazard passing through our campus. The most hazardous of the materials we observed was liquified petroleum gas. Due to the fact that it is under considerable pressure, a tanker containing it poses a risk of exploding and dispersing petroleum gas in aerosolized form. The required distance of evacuation for liquefied petroleum gas is 800 meters (half a mile) in all directions for a spill, and 1600 meters (one mile) in all directions for a fire. Vapors may cause dizziness and asphyxiation without warning, and contact with the gas could cause burns, severe injury or frostbite.
Team Prepare reason for conducting this study was to identify and acknowledge the hazardous materials that could affect the health of students and staff at Campbell University. Conducting our study and analyzing the risks although they are slim puts Campbell at a better place of being prepared and knowing what the potential risk we could face. Conducting this study we have the opportunity to present our findings to Dr. Creed through my network connections and allow him to give us feedback on the data presented. This could be beneficial information to the University and the individuals who occupy or pass through our campus.