Chemical company agrees to pay for damages after sulfuric acid sprayed onto cars along Durham Freeway

On Wednesday, representatives from Brenntag, told WRAL News that some of its employees were depressurizing and disconnecting an empty sulfuric acid railcar at the company's facility on East Pettigrew Street, next to the highway, on the afternoon of Oct. 1. At one point, some acid vapor was released from the railcar.

As of Thursday, at least nine people told WRAL that their vehicles were damaged by a brownish liquid that sprayed across the highway as they drove through the area last Friday.

Fortunately for the drivers, Brenntag has now agreed to set up a call-in number with their insurance carrier. If a driver had damages related to the incident, they can file a claim by calling 866-634-8132 Ext. 338 or emailing raleighapp@frontieradjusters.com.

No Brenntag employees were injured, and a company spokeswoman said managers weren't aware of any off-site consequences until Monday.

After running tests on the railcar, the quantity of vapor released was well below the regulatory reportable quantity for sulfuric acid, meaning there was no need to report the incident to state or federal regulatory agencies.

"It is still too early to determine the specific cause of this incident, but Brenntag is cooperating completely with the local/state authorities. The company is committed to conducting a thorough investigation of the incident to determine the cause and learn what can be done to further improve our operations," spokeswoman Verena Blaschke said in an email.

Brenntag did not disclose exactly how much was released, but a representative said "the railcar was empty enough where we couldn't get more out of it."

"You could just see the liquid pouring over on the highway," said Stefan Smith, who said he bought his truck just two months ago. "Any chemical you're releasing onto the road and cars are driving by, that should have been reported."

"I noticed some water kind of spewing," Heather Toler said. "It was really high up over the tree line [and] down on the cars. It was raining down on top of the cars."

"It had sort of a bleach smell," she added. "It's not a smell I've ever smelled before, so I can't described it. It kind of looked brown. It was greasy."

"You could see this spew of liquid going across the highway, and there was no way to avoid it," added Lisa Hicks. "It definitely had a distinct odor. It was almost sticky but not super-sticky, and it was brownish-goldish.

"I turned on my windshield wipers, and it just smeared around," added Hicks.

WRAL has asked Brenntag officials about the discrepancy between the drivers' reports of liquid being sprayed across the highway and the company's account of a vapor escaping from a railcar and why no one from the company checked to see if the accidental release caused any problems to adjacent properties.

The marks on Toler's Honda and Hicks' BMW won't wash off. The women said paint is also coming off the vehicles.

"If you feel it, you can see there's pieces missing as you're touching it," said Hicks. "I am very saddened to see this happen to my paint coat."

Toler said she called the state Department of Environmental Quality, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Durham police.

"It seems to be acidic-based on how it's eating away the paint on the car," said Toler.

She added that others have reached out to her to show their car's damage.

Toler said one person's passenger-side door was sprayed with the substance.

"We just want more people to come forward about this," said Toler. "There's going to be power in numbers."

Toler and Hicks said they want someone to take responsibility.

"We all want to know what we were breathing [and] what we might have touched," said Toler.

WRAL has asked Brenntag officials if they plan to compensate the drivers for the damage and to restore a section of the highway median that also was damaged by the acid, as well as what steps they are taking to ensure such incidents don't occur in the future.

Although Hicks and Toler said they talked to Durham police about the damage, the department said its Crime Analysis Unit didn't receive any reports about damaged cars.

"I don't think this is a normal thing. It's odd that a bunch of cars can get damaged by something that seems hazardous and that nothing would be done about it," added Toler.