Back in 1960 I was in the Marine Corps waiting to go overseas and was put
on what is called "casual" status. I was put in charge of the cleanup
detail for the El Toro Marine base headquarters building which was
headquarters for all Westpac Marine Operations. We had a floor drain
clogged in the men's head (bathroom) and one of my detail tried clearing it
out with Draino. That didn't work so he dumped a gallon of concentrated
bleach down it. This immediately generates chlorine gas. There must have
been 5 lbs of Draino down the hole and the bleach was a non-household
concentrated version. The whole building filled up with chlorine gas and it
was so strong you could see the green. The building was immediately
evacuated. The building contained the communications section for Westpac as
well as US code machines. The building was surrounded with machine gun
armed Shore Patrol due to the supersecret information contained within. All
Westpac communications was down for about 3 hours.
Lance Corporal Richard Sullivan got to explain the situation to Major
General Ziggy Dawson. No one attacked the base at Pearl Harbor so I got to
keep my stripes. Could have made the history books though.
Never mix bleach and Draino (sodium hydroxide.)
Dick Sullivan
Bostick & Sullivan
PO Box 16639, Santa Fe
NM 87506
505-474-0890 FAX 505-474-2857
http://www.bostick-sullivan.com