Culver City’s first responders could be extremely vulnerable to a release of anhydrous ammonia in case of a refrigeration malfunction at the Culver Ice Arena, says a Santa Monica thoracic surgeon.
Dr. Clark Fuller, Saint John’s Health Center’s Director of Thoracic Surgery in Santa Monica, said the gas was very corrosive and noted that there have been cases where people have died after prolonged exposure to the ammonia.
“While I have never treated anyone who has inhaled anhydrous ammonia, there have been cases where first responders have died after responding explosions at fertilizer plants, where this gas is often used,” Fuller told the News.
The Culver City Fire Department has developed a contingency plan to facilitate mitigation of the release of the gas, according to a special report prepared by Culver City officials. The 2012 Emergency Responders Guidebook indicates that a 10-gallon release of anhydrous ammonia at night with a southwesterly wind can affect approximately 5,000 people, including anyone at Farragut Elementary School, Culver City Middle School, Culver City High School, West Los Angeles College and the city’s two shopping centers.
The 49-page report recently issued by the city on the safety and current status of the closed ice rink includes recommendations from Stanton-based Complete Thermal Services Inc., an air condition service and repair firm that the city hired to review the rink’s refrigeration system.
William Clement, the firm’s president, warned City Manager John Nachbar that the rink’s refrigeration system was “at or near the end of its useful life” and the gas could be released if the system were shut down properly before it is removed.
The rink closed earlier this month after the property owner, Fresno attorney Michael Karagozian, did not renew the lease of the ice arena last operator, John Jackson.
Karagozian leased the skating rink to Planet Granite, a rock climbing company in the Northern California.
Planet Granite backed out recently after learning of the condition of the rink’s cooling system. They had hired their own environmental consultant, who questioned the safety of the cooling system. According to the city’s analysis, neither Karagozian nor Jackson has agreed to take any of the necessary steps to decommission the rink.
Culver City officials have been considering decommissioning the rink based on Jackson’s and Karagozian’s actions and decided to hire Clement as well as Allied Industrial Refrigeration Inc. a Los Angeles area refrigeration contracting company.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta describes anhydrous ammonia as a colorless, highly irritating gas with a sharp, suffocating odor.
“The amount of injury that a person can get is related to three things: concentration, duration and the level of inhalation,” Fuller explained. “Once it escapes as a gas, it can be heavier than air and eventually over time will become lighter than air.”
Fuller said the gas, once airborne, becomes a “whitish vapor.”
There are residential neighborhoods behind and within a block of the ice rink.
Wright Engineering Associates, a Fullerton –based company, countered a report by Alliance by claiming that the refrigeration system is in good condition. The review had harsh words for Alliance’s David Smith.
In its analysis, Wright Engineering says Smith did not make an onsite review and that “calls into question the validity and authenticity of the review.”
Wright also challenged Alliance’s overall assessment of the refrigeration system, calling some of its observations “flawed and inflated” and accuses the company of using “scare tactics” in its assessment. “The Culver Ice Arena has operated without an ammonia release incident during its entire operating life,” the report states. It also says the ammonia can be removed without turning off the refrigeration system.
Richard Takahashi, whose family owns the skating school that operated at the ice rink, hired Wright.
Shannon Takahashi told the City Council on Feb. 10 that her family was in discussion with Karagosian to reopen the arena with her family as the operator until she was contacted by the Culver City Fire Department.
Nachbar declined to comment on Wright’s report. “At this point, attorneys representing [the operator and the property owner] of these matters are in discussion,” he said.
The report states that Karagozian rejects the analysis by Alliance and he believes nothing is wrong with the refrigeration system.
As the owner of the rink, Karagosian bears responsibility for the ice rink, Nachbar said.