Page 4 - aruba-today-20210114

A4 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 14 January 2021
NTSB says vehicle battery fires pose risks to 1st responders

By TOM KRISHER guidelines from 36 manu-
AP Auto Writer facturers found that all had
DETROIT (AP) — Electric ways to mitigate the risk of
vehicle fires pose safety high-voltage shocks includ-
risks to first responders and ing methods for discon-
guidelines from manufac- necting the battery. But
turers about how to deal none of the guides spoke
with them have been inad- to limiting the risk of energy
equate, according to U.S. stored in the batteries, such
investigators. as procedures for minimiz-
There are also gaps in in- ing reignition or instructions
dustry safety standards and on where and how to spray
research on high-voltage water to cool the batteries,
lithium-ion battery fires, es- the agency said.
pecially in high-speed, se- One way to deal with dam-
vere crashes, the National aged batteries is to pull
Transportation Safety Board them from the vehicle and
said Wednesday. soak them in a saltwater
The agency, which has no bath to discharge the en-
enforcement powers and ergy, the NTSB wrote.
can only make recommen- In a statement, NHTSA said
dations, called for manu- that last week it started a
facturers to write vehicle- This undated photo provided by National Transportation Safety Board, The Orange County Fire battery safety initiative to
Authority battles a fire on a burning vehicle inside a garage in Orange County, Calif.
specific response guides Associated Press address growing concerns
for fighting battery fires and about electric vehicle and
limiting chemical thermal how to deal with energy investigating battery fires Lake Forest, a Tesla Model structure fires ignited by
runaway and reignition. remaining in the battery af- after crashes and fires in X battery caught fire after batteries. Under the initia-
The guidelines also should ter a crash, and on how to Lake Forest and Mountain the vehicle left a road and tive, the agency will ana-
include information on how safely store a vehicle with a View, California, and in Ft. crashed into a residential lyze data, investigate fires
to safely store vehicles with damaged battery. Lauderdale, Florida, in 2017 garage at a high speed. and oversee investigations
damaged lithium-ion bat- And it’s asking the National and 2018. It also probed a Thomas Barth, an NTSB en- of electric vehicle crashes,
teries. Highway Traffic Safety Ad- non-crash fire in West Hol- gineer and highway inves- the agency said.
The recommendations ministration to include the lywood, California. Three of tigator, said in an agen- The Alliance for Automotive
come at a time when auto- availability of an emergen- the batteries reignited after cy video that firefighters Innovation, a large auto-
makers are rolling out mul- cy response guide when it fires were extinguished. poured thousands of gal- maker trade group, said it
tiple new electric vehicle calculates five-star vehicle All four vehicles were made lons of water onto the roof will review the recommen-
models, with many in the in- safety scores. by Tesla, which is the top- of the vehicle. “They didn’t dations and is working with
dustry perceiving an inflec- NHTSA also should build a selling electric vehicle mak- realize that they had to di- fire associations, NHTSA,
tion point in switching from coalition to research ways er in the U.S. rect water onto the battery the Society of Automotive
gasoline power to cleaner to de-energies batteries “The risks of electric shock compartment under the Engineers and others to im-
electricity. and reduce hazards from and battery reignition/fire car to cool the battery and prove safety.
The agency in its Wednes- thermal runaway, a chemi- arise from the ‘stranded’ stop the reaction causing Messages were left
day report also asked fire- cal reaction that causes energy that remains in a the fire,” he said. Wednesday seeking com-
fighter and auto towing as- uncontrolled battery tem- damaged battery,” the In an 80-page report the ment from Tesla and the
sociations to inform mem- perature and pressure in- agency said. NTSB wrote that a review National Fire Protection
bers about fire risks and creases. The NTSB started In the August, 2017 fire in of emergency response Association.q
Navajo Nation, New Mexico reach settlements over mine spill

settled with mining compa- while trying to excavate Navajo Nation,” Navajo
nies to resolve claims stem- the mine opening in prepa- Nation President Jonathan
ming from a 2015 spill that ration for a possible clean- Nez said in a statement an-
resulted in rivers in three up. The wastewater made nouncing the settlement.
western states being fouled its way into the Animas Riv- “We pledged to hold those
with a bright-yellow plume er and eventually down to who caused or contributed
of arsenic, lead and other the San Juan River, setting to the blowout responsible,
heavy metals. off a major response by and this settlement is just
Under the settlement with government agencies, the the beginning.”
the Navajo Nation, Sunny- tribe and private groups. The tribe’s claims against
side Gold Corp. — a sub- Water utilities were forced the EPA and its contractors
sidiary of Canada’s Kinross to shut down intake valves remain pending. About 300
Gold — will pay the tribe and farmers stopped draw- individual tribal members
$10 million. ing from the rivers as the also have claims pending
The spill released 3 million plume moved downstream. as part of a separate law-
In this Aug. 6, 2015, file photo, Dan Bender of the La Plata County
Sheriff’s Office takes a water sample from the Animas River near gallons (11 million liters) of The tribe said the toxic wa- suit. Nez added: “It is time
Durango, Colo., after the accidental release of an estimated 3 wastewater from the in- ter coursed through 200 that the United States fulfills
million gallons of waste from the Gold King Mine. active Gold King Mine in miles (322 kilometers) of its promise to the Navajo
Associated Press southwestern Colorado. river on Navajo lands. “The Nation and provides the re-
By S. MONTOYA BRYAN — The Navajo Nation’s A crew hired by the U.S. Gold King Mine blowout lief needed for the suffering
Associated Press Department of Justice an- Environmental Protection damaged entire communi- it has caused the Navajo
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) nounced Wednesday it has Agency triggered the spill ties and ecosystems in the Nation and its people.”q