Massachusetts State Police Hazardous Devices Unit has removed and demolished picric acid, a hazardous chemical that was stored in a lab at Elms College.

Chicopee Residents heard a very loud boom, Monday noontime, 12:03 p.m., when the State Police Bomb Squad removed the potentially volatile and unstable chemical from the College laboratory and brought it to a safe area on Depot Street to be detonated.

The sound of the blast was apparently heard well beyond Chicopee's borders in Holyoke and South Hadley areas.

Nancy Farrell, Director of Institutional Marketing for Elms College, told 22News that this removal followed detection of a small quantity of Picric Acid, less than a gallon, during a routine cleaning of a lab at Berchmans Hall.

Farrell said that picric acid in liquid form is not dangerous but the chemical had dried-out; making it highly explosive.

Immediately the officials contacted the police and fire department to prevent any mishap occurring.

The College of Our Lady of the Elms or Elms College is a Catholic four-year liberal arts college founded as a girls' preparatory academy.

Due to increasing financial and enrollment pressures, the college started accepting men and admitted its first batch during the 1998-1999 academic yea.

The college features 14 buildings, 701 full-time students, and 63 full-time faculty members and offers 33 academic majors.

The Elms College Blazers sport green, gold, and white jerseys and compete at the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association in baseball, basketball, cross-country, golf, soccer, softball, volleyball, field hockey, lacrosse and swimming.