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A potentially lethal situation was averted yesterday when fire officials located 100 pounds of "highly toxic" potassium
cyanide in an empty trailer on a vacant lot in the Lafayette section of Jersey City. The 98 percent-pure potassium
cyanide, which was contained in a rusted drum inside the truck, was in powdered form. But if heated or mixed with an
acidic substance - as easily obtainable as orange juice - it could have released deadly cyanide gas identical to that
used in prison gas chambers, according to Jersey City Fire Department Deputy Director Jose Cruz.
The incident caused alarm, not only for local fire officials, but state criminal investigators and environmental agents
who arrived at the site, which is located at the corner of Pine and Ash streets.
One fire official at the scene said: "If you breathe the gas, you might as well just lie down because it's going to kill you."
Even the powdered form of the chemical can be deadly if it contacts the skin or is inhaled, Cruz said.
State Department of Environmental Protection officials said they had arranged to have the substance removed and
disposed of by last night.
The old, chipped and rusted trailer drew the attention of residents, and they called the Fire Department and reported it
as abandoned on Tuesday about 7 p.m., Cruz said.
Firefighters quickly arrived and peeked into the trailer, but immediately backed off once they discovered two 15- to
20-gallon drum containers marked potassium cyanide - realizing the deadly potential they represented, Cruz said.
The department's Haz-Mat Unit, as well as a team from North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue, confirmed the danger
and Tuesday night notified the DEP and the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, Cruz said.
About 2 p.m. yesterday, three state DEP emergency response trucks converged on the lot, which is dotted with
overgrown weeds and is located next to railroad tracks only two blocks from the Lafayette Gardens Public Housing
Complex.
An agent - in plastic boots, gloves, a full-body suit and respirator - entered the trailer and searched through the debris
inside while carrying a Geiger counter, which detects radioactivity.
Stored inside the truck was a piano, several propane tanks, sheet metal, bowling trophies, car parts and other items
and junk that was stacked about three feet high the entire length of the vehicle.
Finally, the DEP investigator turned his attention to one of the drums marked cyanide and saw it contained auto parts.
But when he unsealed the second container, he discovered it still held its cargo of 100 pounds of potassium cyanide.
The agent quickly resealed the drum and removed it from the trailer.
NJDEP spokeswoman Elaine Makatura said tests done on a sample of the powder at the site confirmed it was
potassium cyanide. Makatura called the substance "highly toxic," adding that "the most important thing is that nothing
happened."
As soon as it was determined that the drum held the deadly substance, the investigation was turned over to Wayne
Smith, a supervisor with the state Division of Criminal Justice's Environmental Crime Division.
One of Smith's investigators also suited up and entered the trailer about 4 p.m., searching its contents for other toxic
substances and collecting evidence for the case.
Whoever dumped the chemical could face charges of abandonment of hazardous waste, a crime carrying a penalty of
up to 10 years in prison, officials said.
Investigators are currently following up leads about the trailer's origin and owner, officials said.
DEP officials said they called in a private contractor to seal the rusted blue and white container of potassium cyanide
into a larger, more secure container, and haul it away for proper disposal. By 6:30 p.m., the drum had been resealed
and was awaiting removal, officials said.
"There was a good response from everyone in the situation, both from the Fire Department and the DEP," Cruz said
last night. "There was good cooperation."
The trailer was left on a lot that fire officials said was owned by the Ross Waxes Company, located on Halladay Street
in Jersey City. However, officials at the Jersey City Tax Assessor's Office said the city now owns the property after a tax
lien foreclosure in June 2001 and June 2002.
No one from Ross Waxes could be reached for comment last night.
Fire officials also said they knew the trailer had appeared on the lot some time during the past seven days.
The lot where the trailer was found is notorious for illegal dumping, the burning of abandoned cars, and fires caused
by the burning of insulation from copper wire by scrap metal collectors, according to Cruz.
By Michaelangelo Conte
Jersey Journal - 8/15/2002