AN ARMY bomb-disposal team carried out a controlled explosion on an unstable chemical at a secondary school in Co Meath yesterday morning.
The team took nearly one hour to dispose of the substance, first removing it from the school laboratory. The explosion was carried out on nearby wasteland and the area was declared safe at 10.35am.
Known as Brady’s Reagent, the chemical is routinely used in schools for simple analytical tests, according to Brigid Lannigan, a researcher at the Science Gallery in Dublin.
The school, Ashbourne Community College, said there were no students or teaching staff on the premises at the time. Audits of chemicals stored at the school are routinely carried out. Problems with Brady’s Reagent (2,4-Dinitrophenylhydrazine), such as crystallising caused by becoming unstable, are always dealt with by the Army bomb-disposal team.
An Army spokesman said: “Schools bring in haz-mat [hazardous materials] teams, and they do an audit of the schools’ chemicals. If they find a problem with this chemical, it’s not something they can deal with.”
According to Ms Lannigan, the usually safe chemical is shock-sensitive.
This was the 14th unsafe chemical disposed of by the Army bomb-disposal teams this year. Other calls out have been to the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin and colleges and schools around the country. This was the 154th call-out for the teams.
The final number of calls for 2011 may surpass that of last year when a total of 198 callouts were made.