The discovery of a potentially unstable chemical at Northwest College last month provided an opportunity for emergency training on Jan. 7.

For the college, that training involved evacuating the NWC Math and Science Building and emergency communications.

For local police and firefighters, the Cody Bomb Squad and the Wyoming Region 6 Emergency Response Team (based in Worland), the training provided a valuable practice in emergency response and safety skills.

NWC classes weren’t in session on Jan. 7.

Jay Dickerson, assistant professor of biology at NWC, said he found an old bottle of picric acid in a chemical storage area in Room 232 in the Math and Science Building.

“I was the discoverer,” Dickerson said. “Mike was the one to realize how dangerous it was.”

Dickerson was referring to Michael Cuddy, assistant professor of chemistry, who also serves as the NWC faculty safety officer.

“He was telling me a story about how they found it at (another college lab), and my eyes got real big,” Dickerson said. “I didn’t let him finish the story; I just dragged him over and said, ‘That’s what this is, isn’t it?’”

Dickerson is new to Northwest this year. He was hired to fill the position vacated by the retirement of Allan Childs, former professor of chemistry and mathematics.

Cuddy and Dickerson contacted Childs, who said he hadn’t used the picric acid and didn’t know when it had been purchased. That likely made the partially-used bottle more than 30 years old, Cuddy said.

Childs, who was on hand for last week’s drill, said picric acid can be used as a dye for viewing slides under a microscope, but it is chemically similar to TNT. As a liquid, it is stable, but when it dries out, it can become explosive.

Cuddy said there have been instances when dried crystals formed inside the grooves of a lid of a previously opened jar of picric acid, and the crystals ignited when the bottle was reopened.

Cuddy placed the jar in a plastic container of water and put a weight on top of it to keep it submerged.

Two unopened bottles of the chemical were discovered later.

A text and email notifying about the drill went out to employees and students at the college the night of Jan. 6.

Mark Kitchen, NWC vice president for college relations, sent a campus-wide email the morning of Jan. 7 telling faculty and staff about the discovery of the picric acid and the planned drill and disposal of the chemical.

Dickerson closed the room after he discovered the chemical, Kitchen said.

“As a campus, the acid could be eliminated by a paid disposal service or with the help of local law enforcement,” Kitchen said.

“As part of our continued commitment to safety drills and building strong ties with local law enforcement, the Powell and Cody Police departments were contacted to see if they would be interested in performing a disposal drill. The Cody Bomb Squad responded today (Jan. 7) and agreed to use this opportunity to train and assist us with disposal of the material.”

For the college, Kitchen said the drill affected only the Science and Math Building and provided an “opportunity to practice our evacuation and accountability procedures.”

Mart Knapp, coordinator for the Park County Office of Homeland Security, said training drills are treated like the real thing. He pointed out that the Region 6 Emergency Response Team had set up all the equipment that might be needed during a chemical emergency response, including a Geiger counter.

“What we’re dealing with is not radioactive, but they have it, just in case,” he said. “They’re prepared for whatever.”

Knapp said members of the Cody Bomb Squad put the bottles of picric acid in a bucket of sand, then took them to a place where they could be disposed of — the NWC Stock Ag Pavillion off Wyo. Highway 295, as previously arranged with Dave Plute, plant manager for NWC.

There, members of the Cody Bomb Squad put the bottles in a hole dug the night before, covered them and detonated the acid to dispose of it.

Lisa Watson, vice president for adminsitrative services, said the drill proved valuable for the college community.

“The opportunity to drill on campus allowed us to test our equipment, work together as a campus and identify areas of improvement going forward,” she said.

“We also discovered that with localized drills or emergencies, it would be nice to have a map showing the location of access boxes for each of the buildings. And finally, we discussed the timing and importance of communication for these events.”

Watson said administrators noticed that the Rave emergency notification email and text message was running slow.

“Overall, events like this allow us to continue improving our emergency preparedness as a campus, and hopefully as a region,” she said.

Knapp said he was pleased with the drill — his main focus was making sure that all the agencies involved communicate and work together.

“I think everybody worked together exceptionally well,” including the state, Region 6, Powell and Cody police, the Powell Volunteer Fire Department, Northwest College and the Park County Homeland Security Office, he said. “That’s what we work for. That’s why we practice. I don’t see how it could’ve gone a whole lot better.”