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April 12, 2005
Airborne Toxic Events
So, there's a chemical leak in Georgia Tech's Biomechanical Engineering Building. Every news chopper in the city of Atlanta is hovering overhead. There is no word yet on what the chemical is or its effects. Should I be worried?
Update: Tech's "toxic event" appears to have ended--there are no more helicopters at least. Fortunately no students required hospital treatment, and the chemical itself turned out not to be hazardous. I think what fascinated me about the whole (non)event was the presence of the helicopters (at least three or four of them) hovering overhead, waiting for the story to break.
Posted by chuck at April 12, 2005 11:56 AM
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Comments
It's interesting to constrast the presence of the news media at this event with the anhydrous ammonia leak near Minot, ND in 2002, when emergency workers couldn't contact six of seven local broadcast stations, since they were all operated remotedly by Clear Channel.
Posted by: McChris at April 12, 2005 2:17 PM
McChris, I'd forgotten about that story until you mentioned it, but yeah, the existence of local media was beneficial here had there been greater cause for alarm.
Posted by: Chuck ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://chutry.wordherders.net/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 12, 2005 2:28 PM
Doesn't something like this happen in Don Delillo's White Noise?
Posted by: GZ at April 12, 2005 2:52 PM