Laserfiche WebLink
Complaint Investigation Summary Report #: 5105 <br />COMPLAINT ID: COOWDMJDR Site Location: 3131 AUTO CENTER CIR, STOCKTON, CA 95212 <br />Activity Summary <br />Activity Date <br />09/25/2021 <br />Recorded by <br />Received page from hospital around 9:40pm. Called hospital who stated that the PRESTO <br />Tesla Auto Center in Stockton reported a 5 lbs of R1234 White spill. Received <br />contact information for Sangeetha Arungiri, (responsible party/complainant). (6 <br />minutes) <br />Called and spoke with Sangeetha Arungiri, the Tesla Corporate lead for North <br />America for the auto centers and body shops. Per Sangeetha, spill occurred <br />around 9:00am on 9/25/2021. Sangeetha stated the spill was of the refrigerant <br />used in the Tesla cars for the air conditioning units. She explained that the <br />refrigerant is a liquefied gas - Honeywell Solstice R1234, flammable substance. <br />The R1234 is typically kept on site in 25 lb cylinders. Sangeetha stated the spill <br />occu red on concrete in the auto shop. The auto shop staff attended to the spill <br />with absorbent mats and the mats were placed in drums on site. The clean up has <br />been completed and was contained within the auto shop. Sangeetha stated that <br />there were no injuries as a result of the spill. She called EHD's phone number <br />when she was notified of the spill by the facility and was confused as why the <br />phone number sent her to the general hospital. She was also at an area with low <br />signal. When she arrived home, she conducted research on what number to call to <br />report spill and stayed on the line to speak with the general hospital. That is why <br />received the page in the evening as opposed to the morning. (12 minutes) <br />Searched inventory to see if this Tesla auto center is a regulated facility. Could not <br />find in Envision Connect. Checked Department of Toxic Substances Control <br />(DTSC) hazardous waste tracking to see if they have an active EPA ID number <br />with and reported wastes. There is an active EPA ID number (CAR000319533) <br />issued 2/19/2021. No manifests reported in the system. Searched for R1234 <br />White SDS on the internet. SDS found for Solstice® yf Refrigerant (R-1234yf). <br />Methods for cleaning up is ventilate area and allow to evaporate. Avoid breathing <br />in vapors. Product evaporates readily. (12 minutes) <br />Called lead senior call tree for guidance on spill. (18 minutes) <br />Spoke with Stacy Rivera, lead senior. More questions should be asked to Tesla <br />such has verifying what they are doing with the waste, how much waste was <br />generated, who is hauling the waste, how much area did the spill cover, what are <br />their hazardous waste training for the employees, is refrigerant part of hazardous <br />waste training, specify what kind of mats, how was the drum labeled, how many <br />people were in the shop at time of spill and how many attended to the spill, any <br />vapors inhaled and adverse health effects from the people inside building, is <br />someone at the facility now that can let me into the shop or tomorrow. Also <br />checked CERS with Stacy to see if there is a CERS submittal for this facility. None <br />was found. This facility may need to be added to inventory for hazardous materials <br />business plan and hazardous waste. (36 minutes) <br />Called Sangeetha again to get more information on spill. She is not yet sure on <br />answers to all questions as she was not actually on site during the spill. She will <br />gather information from the facility first thing in the morning and give me a call <br />back. There is also no one at the facility now but she will also check and let me <br />know tomorrow morning if there will be anyone available tomorrow that can let me <br />into the building. <br />Information gathered from Sangeetha during this phone conversation: the spill <br />occured from the Robinair recovery machine that recycles the refrigerants in the <br />cars and puts it back into the car system. The leak is suspected to occur from the <br />hose of the machine to the car. The spill area was small but is unsure how much <br />space it covered. The area is constantly ventilated due to the roll up shop doors. <br />The type of mat used was pig mats. She advised the shop to place into a <br />hazardous waste drum and label with a hazardous waste label. The facility has a <br />designated hazardous waste storage area as required by corporate Tesla. They <br />51 05r pt <br /> Page 2 of 5