UM building evacuated after chemical spill at entomology lab

ORONO – Nearly 25 people were evacuated from a campus building after a chemical spill Tuesday afternoon at the University of Maine.

Around 3 p.m., someone working in a lab on the third floor of Deering Hall spilled lacto phenol acid fuchsin stain, UM spokesman Joe Carr said. There were two people in the entomology lab at the time and one of them called 911.

The Orono Hazardous Materials Team, which is part of the Orono Fire Department, and UM Public Safety responded to the incident report. The two people in the lab at the time of the spill were checked by medics and were fine, Carr said. No one was injured.

About 200 to 300 milliliters of the substance spilled, Carr said.

The stain is used as part of the lab process for identifying parts of insects and plants, he said.

Carr said the responding teams tend to stress caution in chemical spills of any kind, which was the reason for the building evacuation and subsequent roadblock.

“We have a lot of chemicals on campus for various experiments and that’s why we have this process in place,” Carr said.

Orono Fire Chief Lorin LeCleire cited Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards to explain the hazmat team response.

“Any time a chemical is accidentally released or spilled from a controlled environment, it is deemed a hazmat release,” LeCleire said.

“This happens to be two chemicals mixed together, so we have to do research to see what mixture we’re dealing with and then figure out how to pick it up,” he said.

Chemists on site determined the substance that spilled contained poisonous materials that could pose respiratory problems.

Wearing the highest level of protection suits, two men entered the building to clean up the spill. The chemicals were neutralized with a dry substance and were left in the lab under an exhaust hood in order to vent any remaining fumes.

After the substance was picked up, the team tried to determine if there were residue chemicals in the air, Capt. Henry Vaughan of the Orono Fire Department said.

“We did an air quality reading test, which detects if there is any of the chemical in the atmosphere, and nothing showed on the sampling tube,” Vaughan said.

Around 6 p.m. the site was cleared of any hazardous materials and turned back over to the university, Vaughan said.