MASSENA, New York (WWNY) – Massena’s future includes plans for a liquid hydrogen facility. Not only would the technology bring new jobs to the area, it would also present new challenges.
For example, any emergency call to the plant would be a new experience for the Massena Fire Department.
“Hydrogen is no less or more dangerous than gasoline or natural gas. As a matter of fact, a hydrogen fire, we’re going to tackle almost the same way we do a natural gas fire. Really, in a lot of ways, it’s the same way we would a structure fire; our first incident priority is always life safety. So the first thing we’re doing is looking at viable rescues,” said Massena Fire Department Chief Patrick O’Brien.
Equipment the department has now, like thermal imaging cameras, will help with its response. However, the fire department may need additional equipment like stronger water cannons.
It will be more than a year until Air Products and Chemicals starts construction on its hydrogen facility plant on Pontoon Bridge Road in the town of Massena.
According to Chief O’Brien, the company is already approaching the fire department in terms of providing safety equipment should there be a hydrogen-based fire.
“Our belief is that accidents are preventable, that they are not inevitable, and we know that because we have over 80 years of operating experience. We have successes that we can pull from. Most importantly, we have failures. You know those 83 years of operations, things didn’t always go well and we learned from those and we wrote them down and we codified them in our standards that prevent us from repeating those incidents,” said Frederick Schneider, Air Products.
O’Brien says it’s good to talk about this now and learn what the department will need, and public safety will always be a main priority.
“The key there is we’re going to get someone on scene, we’re going to eyeball the truck, figure out what it is and we’re going to close that road off and, I would imagine in a lot of cases, we’re going to let that continue to cook off, vent to the atmosphere, dissipate, and once it’s done cooking off you know it’s good to go,” he said.
Air Products, fire department, and municipal leaders will continue to meet to talk about preparedness in the coming months.
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