Students walking to class in the Chemistry Building yesterday afternoon were greeted by a sea of fire trucks and rescue vehicles responding to a chemical spill.
Local fire and police personnel responded to the spill in Room 280, according to University Police Capt. Michael Coleman. There was no damage to the building and no injuries were reported. The building was reopened at 1:40 p.m.
Chemistry Prof. Ralph Allen said after a one-liter glass bottle of pyridine liquid was dropped in the lab, those in the room attempted to clean the spill themselves but were overcome by pyridine's strong odor.
Those working in the lab called the University Office of Environmental Health and Safety, which then contacted local emergency officials for assistance. Entering the building wearing ventilators, firefighters turned up the building's ventilation system and were able to eliminate the chemical's odor to an undetectable level, Allen said.
While pyridine is a flammable chemical, the main concern during the spill was its strong odor, Allen added.
"Ultimately, if you breathe enough of it, it is going to make you sick," he said. "Because of the smell, you can get nauseated. It is a lot like ammonia in this sense. If you smell ammonia you don't stay around very long, your body reacts rather violently to it."
At approximately 12:30 p.m., University Health Systems Fire Protection Inspector Erik Larson informed a crowd of students waiting outside that all 1 p.m. classes in the Chemistry Building were cancelled. Allen said 2 p.m. lab sessions in the building were able to proceed as scheduled.
Some professors who had classes in the building yesterday have chosen to reschedule their missed sessions because of the spill. Prof. Lee Coppock, instructor of a large Economics session at 12:30 p.m., decided to hold a makeup session for his students tonight at 8:40 p.m.
Head teaching assistant for Coppock's class, David Zirkle, said the late time to hold the make-up was chosen so as to minimize academic scheduling conflicts. He added that a prompt make-up session was needed to keep students in synchronization with the earlier session of the course.
"Students are no more required to go to the make-up than they are for regular lectures," Zirkle said. "But obviously if they were to hear the material it was the best solution we could come up with."
Despite the instructors' efforts, the rescheduling of classes has created conflicts for some.
First-year College student Billy Duval said Coppock's rescheduling is in conflict with both his advanced karate class and plans to attend fraternity rush.
"I am a little irritated and I probably won't end up going
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