Emergency Response Team
The Emergency Response Team tests the liquid and confirms it is nitric acid. Photo courtesy SCUF.
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Robotic vehicle
One of two robotic vehicles used to handle the hazardous chemical. Photo courtesy MMM.
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Old bottle
Antique bottle with clear liquid in the museum archives. Photo courtesy Museum of the Mountain Man.
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Sublette County Unified Fire assists in disposal of hazardous material discovered at Museum of Mountain Man
by Sublette County Unified Fire
May 5, 2022
PINEDALE, WYOMING - During the late afternoon of May 4, 2022 Sublette County Unified Fire was dispatched to the Museum of the Mountain Man in Pinedale to safely collect and dispose of a small quantity of concentrated nitric acid stored in an antique bottle. The antique bottle was presumably donated to the museum and was stored in the basement. When museum staff discovered the antique bottle, they contacted the fire department to identify and dispose of the hazardous material.
Nitric acid is a colorless liquid acid used in the manufacture of substances including fertilizers, dye, explosives, and many other chemicals. Nitric acid can cause severe health hazards, is very toxic by inhalation, and it is very corrosive through skin contact. The antique bottle appears to have been from the 1870s to 1890s and stored for an unknown time at the museum.
Sublette County Unified Fire contacted the Regional Emergency Response Team from Rock Springs who responded together with the Sweetwater Bomb Squad to assist with the incident. Hazardous Materials Technicians from the Regional Response Team safely removed the nitric acid from the museum. Because the antique container was crystalized and potentially unstable and reactive, the Sweetwater Bomb Squad used a bomb robot to open the container and allow the Hazardous Materials Technicians to test and definitively identify the substance.
Due to the instability of the product, specialists from the Regional Response Team and Sweetwater Bomb Squad determined the safest way to dispose of the nitric acid was to detonate it in the parking lot of the museum rather than attempt to transport it. Bomb Technicians successfully detonated the product in a safe manner and Hazardous Materials Technicians collected the remains for disposal afterwards.
Sublette County Unified Fire would like to express our appreciation to Sublette County EMS, Sublette County Sheriff’s Office, Sublette County Emergency Management, Regional Emergency Response Team #4, the Sweetwater Bomb Squad, and the Museum of the Mountain Man for their assistance safely resolving this potentially serious public health hazard.
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Editor’s note: The hazardous chemical was removed from the antique bottle. The original bottle was not destroyed in this disposal process. Hazardous chemical experts will attempt to neutralize any chemical residue remaining inside the antique bottle and decontaminate it so it can hopefully be put back into the collection at the museum. Thank you to the Museum of the Mountain Man for additional photos.
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