Fate of potentially explosive cargo containers still unclear
SEATTLE -- Ten more potentially explosive containers have been found at the Port of Seattle as the fate of the growing collection of containers remains unclear.
The growing stack of refrigerated containers that have been sitting by itself, isolated from the rest of the port for safety reasons. There is concern these units may explode in the wake of reports of three deaths in foreign ports possibly due to explosive materials mistakenly being mixed in with the coolant while in Vietnam.
The U.S. Coast Guard says it is working with the terminal operators to keep the 80 containers away from everyone, but admits there is no specific plan yet for dealing with them.
"I personally think it's ludicrous to have possible bombs at every corner here and have everybody seem not that concerned about it," said Rudy Finne of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
The Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the various terminal operators, says it is looking for a solution to checking each container to see if it poses any risk. These at-risk containers are being turned away from terminal operators, and as a result, they remain out in the public.
Meantime, the union is worried about containers that left Vietnam and may have passed through local ports before the security alert was put in place. .
The concern arises when the refrigeration system is fired up. Truck driver Cory Bankhead has a container that was turned away from the terminal. But he says because it's not hooked up to the gen-set refrigeration system, he's not worried about it exploding.
"No, because when you have a gen-set attached to these when the reefer is running intermixed, I guess that's when the problem occurs. But I don't have a gen-set on, so there's no issue," Bankhead said.
As for the containers that are hooked up and running, the Washington State Patrol believes the danger is only present when the cooling systems are being worked on and therefore, containers on the roads should not pose any risk.
But the union says it doesn't believe WSP has all the answers since there's no clear reason for why those containers exploded.
No explosions have been reported at any U.S. ports.
The growing stack of refrigerated containers that have been sitting by itself, isolated from the rest of the port for safety reasons. There is concern these units may explode in the wake of reports of three deaths in foreign ports possibly due to explosive materials mistakenly being mixed in with the coolant while in Vietnam.
The U.S. Coast Guard says it is working with the terminal operators to keep the 80 containers away from everyone, but admits there is no specific plan yet for dealing with them.
"I personally think it's ludicrous to have possible bombs at every corner here and have everybody seem not that concerned about it," said Rudy Finne of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
The Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the various terminal operators, says it is looking for a solution to checking each container to see if it poses any risk. These at-risk containers are being turned away from terminal operators, and as a result, they remain out in the public.
Meantime, the union is worried about containers that left Vietnam and may have passed through local ports before the security alert was put in place. .
The concern arises when the refrigeration system is fired up. Truck driver Cory Bankhead has a container that was turned away from the terminal. But he says because it's not hooked up to the gen-set refrigeration system, he's not worried about it exploding.
"No, because when you have a gen-set attached to these when the reefer is running intermixed, I guess that's when the problem occurs. But I don't have a gen-set on, so there's no issue," Bankhead said.
As for the containers that are hooked up and running, the Washington State Patrol believes the danger is only present when the cooling systems are being worked on and therefore, containers on the roads should not pose any risk.
But the union says it doesn't believe WSP has all the answers since there's no clear reason for why those containers exploded.
No explosions have been reported at any U.S. ports.
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