The Toxic Orange Clouds From Vickery

The famous "orange cloud" that people speak of today actually did happen more than one time. Most people remember the one that occurred in 2006, in which there was a  Nitrogen dioxide gas leak from Vickery Environmental.

However documents show that On Aug. 31st and Sept 3rd 1984 :

"A cloud rose from one of the open lagoons and drifted south over Eastern Sandusky County toward Clyde, Ohio until it dissipated."

Vickery never reported the leak to the Ohio EPA which it was supposed to do, the Ohio EPA found out about the leak from the residents of Sandusky County. It also claimed the leak was Nitrogen Oxide, due to a temperature drop from a rain storm. BUT later it was revealed by the EPA that the cloud actually formed due to the company mixing incompatible wastes from it's open pond of hazardous waste. In other words the company essentially lied.

Soon after Vickery decided that it would pay the initial medical costs of people who suspected that they were harmed by the event. However, Vickery laid out some conditions first. One of the conditions was that the people who wanted payment for already seeing a doctor had to share the results of their physical examinations with the company. Also the people who had not been treated, had to agree to go to a doctor that Vickery choose.

Another cloud had formed on Sept. 14 but the company said they would not pay for treatment that was related to that cloud release.

In March the previous year reports stated that the Vickery site was illegally storing millions of gallons of PBC's which are cancer causing agents. The report states that:

"The most common Dixon compound and the one found near Vickery is a component of the herbicide known as Agent Orange."

The highest level of dioxin was 32 parts per billion. The CDC in Atlanta said that a "safe level" of dioxin in the atmosphere is 1 part per billion. There were area residents who were worried that the dioxins from the site could have spread during a flood in 1969.

In February 1985 a resident who lived near Vickery said her son broke out into hives while building a snow man, and two weeks later doctors still had no idea why he still had a rash. A month later residents reported multicolored clouds were rising from the lagoons and there was a odor coming from the site. There were also reports of residents wondering if the dump site was the cause of their cattle and family members being ill.

Of course there have been other chemical releases from the site, including the ones in Aug. 2003 and in 2006. Vickery again claimed that the chemical was Nitrogen Oxide, that was released from the site.

***Some of this information was taken from the following places:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YW4xAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EQMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2964,2728767&dq=vickery+environmental&hl=en

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=62JQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Mg4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=4962,889519&dq=vickery+environmental&hl=en

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1CFcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WFUNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1117,4433467&dq=ohio+liquid+disposal&hl=en