Full details of Birmingham chemical leak revealed

Birmingham City Council has vowed to recoup the cost but for now has been left saddled with two tonnes of the material – which they say is the greatest amount of it in its metallic form in all of Western Europe.

The incident ground the area surrounding the junction of Windermere Road and Oxhill Road, in Handsworth, to a halt on November 14, as dozens of firefighters descended on a garage blaze.

Now the full details of the chemical alert have been revealed by an Environmental Health report.

Eight fire engines attended and the flames were quickly extinguished but a 200 litre barrel had exploded causing a mystery material to erupt on to Windermere Road.

The fire service was informed that the chemical was sodium, a soft white metal that can be cut with a knife, which is highly reactive and not normally found in its metal form.

Police set up a large cordon and emergency response officers from the council also attended. Around 9pm on the night, Environmental Health was asked to provide a specialist chemical company.

But at one point West Midlands Fire Service stated they would remove everyone within half a mile of the garage if the sodium could not be removed, the report said. The zone contained 7,073 properties – including 6,482 homes.

Around 40 barrels were stored inside the unit, some stacked on top of each other.

Rainwater had leaked into the garage rotting the barrels and had entered one of the containers causing the explosion.

Firefighters were able to cover the other barrels with tarpaulin to avert a more serious incident.

The council served a notice on the property owner for permission to remove the drums and hired London-based waste specialists Adler and Allan to carry out the work. The company had to place them in larger yellow barrels to ensure the sodium was contained while the most dangerous drum, which caused the fire, was removed and transported away separately.

A clear-up operation continued the following morning. Fire engine foam was present on the road which was also throwing up a PH scale reading of 10. A large block of sodium slightly bigger than a computer mouse was also found.

The clear-up cost the council around £25,000. But they stated there is no market for the sodium to be sold at the moment and therefore it will likely have to be repackaged and incinerated, costing up to a further £175,000.

The authority is looking to use its emergency contingency funds but is intending to charge the costs to the owner of the property once the final sums are known.

The report of the incident is due to go to the council’s licensing and public protection committee on January 15.

Councillor Phil Davis, committee chair, said: “I was really surprised to learn that such a dangerous chemical could be out there in a garage in one of our neighbourhoods.

“I would like to praise the actions of council officers, colleagues in the fire service and the specialist chemical company in making this situation safe. It was tremendous work by everyone involved.”