RICE VILLAGE BARBECUE AND POT LUCK BRINGS ON THE CHEMICALS AND HAZMAT CREW As abc13 reports it this evening, both sides in everyone’s favorite ongoing Rice Village feud contributed what they could to today’s neighborly resolution of that little rotting-meat problem. To neutralize the odor emanating from the tens of pounds of stinky flesh that had been dumped on an adjacent private alley a week ago, workers from Hans’ Bier Haus reportedly poured calcium hydroxide (or lime) onto it. And the friendly folks next door at the 2520 Robinhood at Kirby condos hired a hazardous-materials crew to remove the resulting stew: “It’s a corrosive and it could be toxic also,” Bernard Nelson of Legacy Environmental told a station reporter. “If it gets on the skin it could burn. It carries [a] pH of 14 to 16 so that’s definitely caustic.” [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
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2520 better not submit an invoice to Hans’ for their little HazMat stunt… but kinda hope they do.
This is better than an HBO special.
We need a BBC crew for a documentary; this skirmish must be preserved for all time!
(besides in court documents)
Yuck. What a mess, in every way.
Seriously….Only in Houston. This has all the makings of a TV show…
Could be corrosive if it comes in contact with the skin? Then don’t touch it. Wait like … 2 days in Houston for it to rain and wash away the CaOH. Or just use that infamous garden hose that SOMEBODY has to wash it away. Water has this amazing chemical property that allows it to neutralize an acid or a base, even with a pH of (?)16.
Wow. So who dumped the meat? On the property now known as the Battle Zone which is owned by someone who hasn’t come forward or been identified. Which is now a potential EPA hazardous waste site. Was someone cited or not? Very important since whoever owns the Battle Zone most likely has a lawsuit for contaminating the property. What’s next?
The cosmos gets the sleazeballs in the end. Just ask Mel Gibson.
The cosmos will get the sleazeballs at 2520 Robinhood. Just wait.
Love the idea of a BBC special. “America’s New Plague. Southampton Syndrome.”
Is there a suitcase neutron bomb someone could drop in the alley so the rest of us could be done with this idiot-fest? This has really devolved into which STD is “better to have”.
pH 16. Interesting. That’s basic hazmat stuff.
@ matt mysery: Gulp. Aaaaah.
@ wilf: Funny and spot-on.
It’s been a couple decades since I studied any chemistry, but — pH of 16????
Yes, this has all the makings of a great made-for-tv movie. I nominate Crispin Glover to play the 2520 concierge.
Carol – Oh yeah, and Michael Ironside as the salty proprietor of the biker bar (which is what the place will turn into on the third rewrite).
Yeah, traditionally we were taught that pH ranges only from 0 to 14, but you can have a negative pH or a pH greater than 14. It could just be an exaggeration by the news or one of these drama queens though. Not sure.
Is this really something that someone could claim is a hazardous waste or Superfund site? This stuff is not persistent in the environment. Someone will have to clean it up, but it’s not something that should lower the property value. These guys are doing that already themselves with all this drama.
Have you seen those little, red, yellow & blue umbrella-hats on an elastic head-band?
Well, in addition to gas-masks, Hans’s needs to supply them at the door.
Too bad Hans’s only serves beers and wines. If they had a mixed drink license a clever bartender could create timely concoctions with names like the Robinhood, the Restraining Order, and the Meat Bomb.
Lime at a high pH is not a hazardous situation for the environment. For humans? Yes. For the environment? No.
Dousing it with water to neutralize it, then scoop it up into a container.
Can’t wait for the methane bubble to burst in the Gulf and wash all this away for good!
It was 37+ years ago, and I was definitely not serious, but some folks must have gotten bothered by a simple reference to Houston’s history. Sorry for any hurt feelings though, never intended for that. Someone knows their chemistry quite well though, is a nicer way of putting it..
These comments are cracking me up! I love it.
yes! Miz Brooke Smith
The Meat Bomb: a double martini with a tiny, toasted pork meatball at the bottom of the glass and a garnish of poison ivy.
Hee hee, movocelot! Good one!
Ah, wait, don’t forget the additional garnish: a slice of lime to keep the drink fresh as long as possible.