Calgary police have lifted an evacuation order for several blocks of the city’s Manchester industrial park after some dangerous chemicals discovered outside a local business earlier this week were successfully removed.
In an emailed update, issued around 12:15 a.m. on Thursday, police said all the hazardous materials have been transported to a safe location where they will be destroyed.
The CPS bomb disposal started conducting small, controlled explosions of the material, identified as picric acid, behind a large gravel berm on a nearby street Wednesday afternoon.
CPS said the controlled detonations will continue Thursday “with minimal disruption to the public.”
The area was ordered evacuated after emergency crews were called out Tuesday to reports of a suspicious package outside a business in the 4700 block of First Street southwest.
Airspace within two nautical miles of the area was also closed, and Calgary Transit was forced to reroute some busses and delay some CTrains.
A member of the CPS bomb disposal unit is seen Wednesday afternoon preparing to conduct a controlled explosion on some hazardous chemicals that forced several blocks of Calgary’s Manchester industrial park to be evacuated.
Global News
Police said the package that contained the highly volatile chemical was mislabeled before it was transported and delivered by a moving company and “as a result of this mislabeling the substances sat for approximately 10 days.”
According to Transport Canada, picric acid, which is used mostly to make explosives and dyes, is highly toxic and “one of the most dangerous chemicals being used today in chemistry labs.”
The chemical, which usually exists as a wet paste, becomes extremely dangerous when dried out and high temperatures or sudden impacts can cause it to spontaneously explode.
Police have not released any details on where the chemical came from or what it was destined to be used for, but they have launched an investigation into possible criminal charges.
