Hazardous Materials Accident Report: Nurse Tank Failure With Release of Hazardous Materials Near Calamus, Iowa April 15, 2003

About 11:50 a.m. central daylight time on April 15, 2003, a nonspecification cargo tank used by River Valley Cooperative (River Valley) exclusively for agricultural purposes as a nurse tank split open after being filled with anhydrous ammonia at River Valley's nurse tank filling facility near Calamus, Iowa. About 1,300 gallons of the poisonous and corrosive gas escaped, seriously injuring two nurse tank loaders, one of whom died from his injuries 9 days after the accident. Equipment repair and replacement costs associated with the accident totaled about $3,100.