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A look back at massive tank spill in Chesapeake

Posted at 4:36 PM, Apr 18, 2013
and last updated 2013-04-18 18:30:27-04

Chesapeake, Va. - Wednesday's explosion in Texas hits close to home in one Chesapeake neighborhood.

Residents witnessed a massive fertilizer tank spill at Allied Terminals just a few years ago.

"We're a time bomb ready to go off," says Chakeeta Rivers.

For Chakeeta Rivers, the explosion at a fertilizer plant in Texas on Wednesday is a horrifying reminder.

She lives directly across the street from Allied Terminals in Chesapeake, where, in 2008, a tank collapsed - spilling chemical fertilizer into her South Hill neighborhood.

According to the US Chemical Safety Board, the collapse happened in November 2008 when an above ground storage tank failed, spilling two million gallons of the chemical inside.

"All the chemical run down in the drain there."

Edora Mitchell also lives across from the storage facility.

She says her home wasn't affected, but the neighborhood just still isn't the same.

"The trees died from the chemicals, all the trees along that line," Mitchell explains.

But some of those who live and work further back from it, like Vincent Smith, believe Allied Terminals did a good job cleaning up - and they're not worried even after hearing what happened in Texas.

Vincent Smith says, "It's one in a thousand times it happens."

Rivers says things will never be back to normal as long as she lives here.

"At night when you hear a strange noise, I'm always looking like ok, do I need to run or do I have enough time?"

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