Explosive Material Removed From Durham VA Hospital

Explosive Material Removed From Durham VA Hospital

Hazmat crews and the Durham County bomb squad removed a potentially explosive material from a storage shed Wednesday afternoon at the VA Medical Center in Durham.

Authorities found approximately a pint of crystallized picric acid Wednesday afternoon near Pratt and Douglas streets.

Hospital spokesman Hal Hummel said the chemical was being kept in an outdoor storage unit waiting to be disposed of properly when a worker noticed shortly before noon that it had crystallized.

When it becomes crystallized, picric acid can be explosive, Hummel said, and emergency crews were called in as a precaution. No one was in danger, and the hospital was not evacuated.

"It had the potential to be a very large explosion," said Capt. John Flamion with the Durham County Sheriff's Office. "Somebody could've come in there, moved it, dropped it, whatever, and it would've been a bad day for a bunch of people."

Picric acid is often used in the manufacture of explosives or munitions, but he said, the material in question was creatnine, a form of picric acid used for detecting kidney disease.

Authorities also shut down roads in the area and exits of Interstate 85 for about 10 minutes as they moved the material to the Durham County Sheriff's Office firing range, where the bomb squad used heavy explosives to detonate the chemical to make sure it completely disintegrated.



29 Comments


Golo

Welcome to GOLO, where WRAL.com visitors can comment on stories and create profile pages, blogs and photo galleries.

You must be a registered WRAL.com user to use these tools. Click here to register or log in.

View Comments View Comments

Ask Anything
  1. Nicholas Sparks
    10 questions with Nicholas Sparks

    Author Nicholas Sparks answers your questions about battling writer's block and writing romantic story lines.

  2. John Paul Womble
    10 questions with John Paul Womble - The Alliance of AIDS Services

    John Paul Womble answers your questions about contracting AIDS and myths surrounding the disease.

  3. Cam Ward
    10 questions with Hurricanes' Goalie Cam Ward

    Cam Ward answers your questions about winning the Stanley Cup, superstitions on game days and smack talk on the ice.

Multimedia
  1. 49th Annual WRAL-TV Tower Lighting_01
    49th Annual WRAL-TV Tower Lighting

    WRAL-TV's tower has been changed into a 300-foot Christmas tree, with 2,805 colored lights and three stars on Monday, Dec. 1, 2008.

  2. APTOPIX ROMANIA WEATHER
    The week in photos

    A look at the top news, politics and sports stories of the week through the lenses of Associated Press photographers.

  3. APTOPIX Holiday Shopping
    Gallery: Black Friday shopping

    A look at shoppers across the country on Black Friday.

  4. 2008_American_Music_Awards_Arrivals
    The week in entertainment

    A look at the top entertainment stories this week through the lenses of Associated Press photographers.

  5. Apex vs.Wake Forest -Rolesville on November 28, 2008
    Apex vs. Wake Forest-Rolesville (November 28, 2008)

    Wake Forest-Rolesville beat Apex 35-7 in the third round of the NCHSAA 4-AA playoffs.