Potentially dangerous materials in Gordon collection truck prompt closure of Chadron Transfer Station

UPDATE: UPDATE: The Chadron Transfer Station is now back open for receiving regular household and solid waste.

CHADRON, Neb. - The Chadron Transfer Station is closed until further notice because of what the Solid Waste Agency of Northwest Nebraska (SWANN) is calling ‘alarming and potentially dangerous’ materials found in a Gordon collection truck. At least 12 home oxygen tanks were improperly discarded in an alleyway dumpster in Gordon.

“There was the potential for this type of oxygen tank to cause an explosion inside the baler unit at the Chadron Transfer Station, similar to what happened with the oxygen tank last May,” SWANN said in a news release.

One person was injured in that May explosion caused by a steel oxygen bottle. The blast had sent the bottle through the roof of the steel building, and it landed around 100 yards away.

The agency explained that its trucks are fed through a hopper to drop waste into a tank. A packer plate located behind the truck cab then compresses the waste toward the back, making room for more material. If one of the oxygen tanks had been caught in this process, it could have exploded either on-site or during baling operations.

SWANN is asking customers to be vigilant in knowing what is allowed in dumpsters. People who are getting rid of oxygen bottles need to deliver them to a site worker at the community dump or return them to their oxygen/health/home care retailer.