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« Tocco selected as chair of UMass board | Main Thursday, September 28, 200661 taken to hospitals after dust plume in Charlestown
The Charlestown school bus yard was covered with dust this afternoon after an explosion at a nearby cement company. By John R. Ellement, Megan Tench, Globe Staff, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent An explosion at a Charlestown cement company spewed a massive plume of dust this afternoon that sent 61 people to hospitals with "mild" respiratory problems and coated hundreds of school buses in a nearby parking lot with white powder, according to emergency and school officials. Boston Pubic Schools has decided not to use any of the buses in the Charlestown yard this afternoon, which puts approximately one-third of its fleet out of service. "The bus yard has been closed by public safety officials pending an investigation," said Michael Contompasis, Interim Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools, in a written statement. "Therefore, BPS families should be prepared for significant delays in yellow bus transportation this afternoon." The debris came from Lafarge North America, a firm with six towering silos. The dust coated the buses in a nearby parking lot for First Student, the company that transports students for the Boston Public Schools. The white debris on top of the orange buses looked like a thick blanket of snow. Lieutenant Christopher Stratton of Boston Emergency Medical Services said that the 61 people taken to hospitals had mostly mild chest, eye and respiratory irritations. The substance was identified as crystalline silica, a substance that Stratton described as non-toxic cement dust. Boston Public Schools spokesman Jonathan Palumbo said that the plume did not affect any students. Lafarge, at 285 Medford St, describes itself as the "largest diversified supplier of construction materials in the U.S. and Canada," on its web site. The company produces cement, ready-mixed concrete, gypsum wallboard, aggregates and asphalt. A man who answered the phone at Lafarge confirmed that the dust came from the company and said that the proper authorities had been notified. The man declined to comment further. First Student, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based company, transports 32,000 students for the Boston Public Schools. Schools in northern parts of the Boston are most likely to be most affected, but the delays will have a citywide impact, school officials said. Later bus routes have been added this afternoon and officials are encouraging parents to pick up their children.
Posted by the Boston Globe City & Region Desk at 02:55 PM
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