Sep 022010
Just had an interesting conversation with a neighbor. Seems there are critters falling ill… some that were outside when the dirt fell developed instant skin conditions. Metal and painted things covered by the dirt seeming to develop instant corrosion.
Yes, indeed, the topic of lawyers was raised.
I’m staying out of the middle of this for obvious reasons, but there could be interestin’ doin’s afoot.
22 Responses to “Fallout from the fallout”
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Same propellant, new design? What else burns up besides the propellant I wonder? Good grief.
Jim
> What else burns up besides the propellant
Propellant: Aluminum, Ammonium perchlorate, PBAN binder
Nozzle materials
Case insulation material (rubber)
Various solvents, lubricants, chemical additives in the propellant
Dirt, crap in the dirt, critters in the dirt
Well…Everything reacts with everything in high-temperature chemistry…so, prob only god will knows what you have there down wind….
If I had only read the article I would’ve not been so concerned. But I saw the skin reaction on my horse from the pollution. I spoke to a gal who experienced the pollution several years ago and saw her herd of cattle sickened and received a cash payment from them after taking them to court and proving their part. I saw the clean up crew not just sweep and wash the debris away, but also bag it up and haul it away!(one of the many red flags!!!)
sorry on myscreen name typo!!!
Don’t worry about typos. This blog would be only half as wordy if all my mispelled words were removed.
You best get a sample tested, and document what is happening, quickly. Corporate lawyers will be brooming this as fast as possible, so you need to be ahead of the curve.
When NASA tested that super-giant SRB they were developing to power the Saturn V with if the F-1 failed, the combustion products from that stripped the paint off of cars that were parked near the the test site; you may want to look into info and documents on that as evidence if it does turn into a court case.
Isn’t HCL a combustion product of ammonium percholrate?
If it’s sticky, then all the critters, especially the cats, will be licking this stuff off their fur and that can’t be good, even if the dirt was harmless. What do the cats say about all of this?
Def get a lawyer!
I’m pretty sure ATK, like many companies, has a group that handles compensation for this type of thing. They probably don’t have a listed phone number however, so it’s a question of finding the right door (Community Relations?) and approaching them with the right balance of righteous indignation and willingness to negotiate.
The big long-term problem is making sure the contamination doesn’t impede your ability to sell the property, should you ever want to.
> Isn’t HCL a combustion product of ammonium percholrate?
Yes. However, our soil is *very* alkaline due to the salt content; not really sure what the end result there is.
“The big long-term problem is making sure the contamination doesn’t impede your ability to sell the property, should you ever want to.”
They’ve been firing those things off for 30 years. The horse isn’t just out of the barn, it’s in glue bottles.
Has there ever been a rain of chemicals, in the past?
I’m told that this happened in 2001, and that some owner of cows settled out of court with ATK. That’s second-hand info, though.
Are you being Un-American by not suing?
> Are you being Un-American by not suing?
Sadly yes, it seems that lawsuits are the answer for everything anymore. However:
1) I’m not exactly a big fan of lawsuits
2) You sue for *damages,* which I’ve none proven as yet
3) In all likelihood if there are damages to *me,* there will be damages to a lot of others, and thus a class-action. For reasons which seem good to me, I’m not leading that charge.
There’s always “emotional trauma”. 😉 I’m sure there’s some nice, liberal head-shrinker that would back it if he thought there was enough green behind it. Hell, call PETA and Greenpeace (they’re hurting the aminals making evil WMDs right?) and they’d probably pay YOU for the opportunity to sick their lawyers on ATK. That’s me just being cynical though, it could never work in real life. LOL
are you being un american by not suing and exposing the beast for what it is and hopefully preventing this from happening in the future. Does anyone give a damn about any one else any more? ATK, as far as I am concerned is already trying to cover up – by saying there have been no problems in the past – when in fact they paid out on at least 1 claim that I know of 8+ million.
please direct pertinent info (labs unaffiliated to ATK/Thiokol, attorney names, etc to me)
You are going to _love_ this one.
Remember how a few months back the stuff showed up in the mail regarding my unexpected inheritance of part of the mineral rights in the land out in the west of the state sitting right over the Bakken oil formation?
Well, a few days back, another letter arrived stating that I have a claim in a class action suit against the insurance company that insured the car loan I took out for my 1992 Ford Festiva, stating that as I paid off the car loan ahead of schedule, they owed me the proportion of the total insurance payment that was remaining between pay-off and the end of the scheduled loan payments…15 years after I did that.
In total monetary amount it’s not all that great; around $300.00; but the way things are going in this regard recently I’m half expecting to go walking and trip over an odd glittering thing in the soil that turns out to be a 300 carat flawless diamond. 🙂
You make better choices than do I, Pat. I got a check, as a part of a class-action suit, for $4.77 for my purchase of Airborne.
And shortly after my job at ATK went away, I got a bill for $12,000 from the IRS for an investment I’d made that lost money.