WEST PITTSBURG Magnesium ignites at Remacor

Company officials are looking for a safe place to dispose of the magnesium.
WEST PITTSBURG, Pa. -- Barrels of magnesium ignited into flames for the second time in a month at a plant on Pa. Route 168.
Jack Lingenfelter, assistant plant manager at Remacor, also known as Reactive Metals and Alloys Corp., said a magnesium barrel damaged in a fire March 6 ignited again about 5:10 p.m. Thursday.
Taylor Township firefighters were called to ensure no buildings were in danger, but could do little to stop the blaze, he said. Magnesium can explode if it comes in contact with water.
Lingenfelter said no more than 10 or 15 drums were on fire at one time, a much smaller number than the last fire, when about 80,000 pounds of magnesium burned over a 12-hour period. This blaze was out by midnight, he said.
Disposal problem: Workers are now trying to find a safe place to dispose of the burnt magnesium barrels. Some are still left from the previous fire, he said.
"We have yet to find a safe home for it. You can't just take this stuff to your local landfill," he said.
Plant officials believed the first fire ignited because of a faulty barrel which allowed moisture to build up and then explode.
It's unclear why the second blaze started, but Lingenfelter said recent rains may have affected the barrels, which again built up moisture.
The plant stores the barrels in an outside area before the magnesium is processed and sent for use in the steel industry.