Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 012 Hazard: CHEMNEP

29 CFR 1910.126(e): Cyanide tanks were not provided with a dike or other safeguard to prevent cyanide from mixing with an acid if the dip tank were to fail: (a)Hill Air Force Base, at 7290 Weiner Street, Hill Air Force Base, UT: On and prior to 3/16/11, Hill Air Force Base did not ensure that cyanide tanks were provided with an adequate dike or other safeguard to prevent cyanide from mixing with an acid if the dip tank were to fail. Aircraft parts were electroplated in Building 505 using cadmium oxide, sodium cyanide, and sodium hydroxide. The cadmium/cyanide electroplating line was adjacent to a line using chromic acid, sulfuric acid, and/or nitric acid. The basement floor beneath the lines was sloped such that leaks from either line would drain into a common drain field. A floor drain, within this drain field, between the lines was intended to collect cyanide waste and direct it to a sump which pumped waste to the wastewater treatment plant. Approximate eight inch tall diking partially extended around the cyanide line. The floor drain was outside any diking around the cyanide line. Hydrogen cyanide is evolved when the pH of a cyanide solution is reduced through mixing with an acid. The employer did not provide diking or other safeguards to prevent cyanide from mixing with acid if a dip tank were to fail. This condition exposed employees to a hydrogen cyanide hazard. Abatement Note: Abatement certification and documentation are required for this item (See enclosed "Sample Abatement-Certification Letter"). Abatement Note: Abatement for this item may be achieved through compliance with American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z9.1 "Practices for Ventilation and Operation of Open-Surface Tanks".rface