CSB approves urgent recommendations to OSHA NFPA and others to prevent Kleen energy type natural gas explosions
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June 28, 2010 Middletown, CT On a 4-1 vote, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board tonight approved urgent safety recommendations to OSHA, NFPA and others. The draft recommendations, which were approved without amendments at a public meeting in Portland, CT, aim to prevent deadly explosions and fires during pipe cleaning and purging operations.
The recommendations – directed to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and others, result from extensive CSB investigations into the February 7, 2010, explosion at the Kleen Energy power plant in Middletown that caused six deaths and multiple injuries, and the June 9, 2009, explosion at the ConAgra Foods Slim Jim plant in Garner, North Carolina, that killed four workers and injured 67.
The accident at Kleen Energy occurred during the planned cleaning of natural gas piping during the commissioning and startup phase of construction. Natural gas was forced through large piping that was to fuel the plant’s large electricity-generating gas turbines, in an operation called a “natural gas blow.” This gas was vented directly to the atmosphere from open pipe ends that were less than 20 feet off the ground and were located in congested areas adjacent to the power generation building.
CSB investigators obtained gas company records showing some two million standard cubic feet of natural gas were released to the atmosphere during gas blows on February 7—enough, the CSB calculated, to provide heating and cooking fuel to a typical American home every day for more than 25 years!! The gas found an ignition source and exploded.
In the CSB proposed recommendations, OSHA is urged to pass regulations that would prohibit the use of natural gas for pipe cleaning, the cause of the explosion at Kleen Energy, and would prohibit the venting or purging of fuel gas indoors, the cause of the explosion at the ConAgra Slim Jim plant. Both explosions resulted from releases of natural gas during the installation and commissioning of new piping that led to gas-fired appliances.
OSHA is also urged to require that companies involve their workers and contractors in developing safe procedures and training for handling fuel gas.
In testimony this morning at a field hearing before a subcommittee of the U.S House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor, held in Middletown, CSB Board Member John Bresland said there is a “significant gap” in the current gas safety standards for general industry and construction, “a gap that threatens the continued safety of workers at facilities that handle flammable natural gas.”
An urgent recommendation directed at the NFPA urges the code-development organization to enact a tentative interim amendment as well as permanent changes to the National Fuel Gas Code that addresses the safe conduct of fuel gas piping cleaning operations. Under the draft recommendation, NFPA would be asked to remove key exemptions in the code for natural gas power plants and for high-pressure gas piping and to require the use of inherently safer alternatives to natural gas blows. CSB investigators determined that compressed air is a feasible and economical alternative to using natural gas for pipe cleaning and is already used by many companies.
Mr. Bresland told the House Committee, “At our CSB public meeting later this evening, I intend to vote for and support new urgent safety recommendations that we have developed, calling for OSHA to enact new regulations to control this hazard, and I will encourage the other Board members to do the same.”
Other draft recommendations would seek related safety improvements from the State of Connecticut and other states, the leading gas turbine manufacturers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the Electric Power Research Institute.
At the public meeting, newly appointed CSB Chairman Dr. Rafael Moure-Eraso will preside; Dr. Moure and Mr. Mark Griffon were confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday June 23 and were commissioned by President Obama the following day.
The CSB public meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Saint Clements Castle conference facility, 1931 Portland-Cobalt Road, Portland, Connecticut, (860) 342-0593. The public is invited; no prior arrangements are needed. Attendance is free and there will be ample seating and free parking.
The CSB investigation team, headed by Investigations Supervisor Don Holmstrom, will present a report on the Kleen Energy accident as well as a review of existing regulations applying to the practice of gas blows at power plants and general industry.
The Board will hear from two witness panels, including –
· Professor Paul Amyotte – Dalhousie University (Canada)
· Ervin Patterson – Commissioning Management Services, Inc.
· Larry Danner – GE Energy
· Representative Matthew Lesser – Connecticut House of Representatives
· Professor Glenn Corbett – John Jay College of Criminal Justice (New York)
· Michael Rosario – Local 777, United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters
· Steven Schrag – Connecticut Council for Occupational Safety and Health
Following a public comment period in which any interested person may speak, the Board will vote on the recommendations. The CSB staff is expected to propose (subject to Board approval) that upon passage of the urgent recommendations, the Kleen Energy and ConAgra investigations would be concluded. Although no additional written report is planned beyond the statement of more than 60 factual findings, the CSB plans to develop a computer-animated safety video describing the two accidents and the recommendations for safety change.
Mr. Bresland told the House committee, “We believe that the 18 urgent recommendations proposed today – together with the two urgent recommendations we issued on February 4 – address all of the principal root causes of these two tragic accidents. If adopted by the recipients, I have no doubt that future accidents will be avoided and lives will be saved as a result.”
CSB gets a new Chairman Dr. Rafael Moure-Eraso-former Chairman John Bresland to continue as board member
June 25, 2010-Dr. Rafael Moure-Eraso has been confirmed as the new Chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. Former Chairman Mr. John Bresland will continue on the board as a member until he completes his five year term. Additionally, Mr. Mark Griffon has been also appointed to the board as a member.
A part of the statement from the CSB is given below:
Dr. Rafael Moure-Eraso Confirmed and Appointed as New Chairman and Mark Griffon as Board Member of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board
Washington, DC, June 25, 2010 – Dr. Rafael Moure-Eraso has been confirmed and appointed as the new chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), the agency announced today; Mr. Mark Griffon has been appointed as a new board member, filling the other vacancy on the Board.
The new chairman and board member were nominated by President Obama on March 22, 2010. They were discharged from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on June 17 and confirmed by the full Senate on June 23. They were appointed and commissioned by the president the following day.
Outgoing Chairman John Bresland said, “I greatly look forward to working with the new appointees; their diverse backgrounds and deep dedication to workplace safety will serve as an invaluable resource for the board as we enter a time of profound challenge and opportunity.”
Mr. Bresland has now stepped down from the chairman position but will continue to serve as a board member for the remainder of his five-year term, which runs through March 2013.
Dr. Moure-Eraso has until now served as Chair and Head of the Department of Work Environment, School of Health and Environment, University of Massachusetts, Lowell. He has 30 years of experience in workplace safety issues and is a certified industrial hygienist. He received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Bucknell University. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati in Environmental Health-Industrial Hygiene.
Mr. Griffon has been working as a consultant in the environmental and occupational health field for 18 years. Mr. Mark Griffon is also a member of the Federal Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness and Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). Mr. Griffon holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an M.S. in Radiological Sciences from University of Massachusetts.
Both new appointees will participate in the CSB’s upcoming public meeting to release urgent recommendations from the Kleen Energy investigation on Monday, June 28, 2010, at 6:30 pm in Portland, Connecticut. Dr. Moure will preside at the meeting.
CSB finally agrees to investigate root causes of the BP Transocean Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig and oil spill disaster
22nd June, 2010 -Finally, acceding to requests from members of the public and their elected representatives, the US Chemical Safety Board, has agreed to investigate in depth (pun not intended), the circumstances that led to the explosion and sinking of BP’s Transocean Deepwater Horizon and consequent oil spill that has become a national disaster, worse than Hurricane Katrina or the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The fact that the CSB is likely to investigate this accident was already reported on this blog, if you remember.
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Here is the full text of the letter written by Chairman John Bresland of the CSB to Hon. Henry Waxman and Hon. Bart Stupak , both of the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Dear Chairman Waxman and Chairman Stupak:
I write in response to your letter of June 8, 2010, requesting a CSB investigation of the causes of the BP/Transocean rig explosion that occurred on April 20, 2010. We recognize that this human and ecological disaster is one of the most significant chemical accidents of the current era. We also agree, as noted in your letter, that the CSB’s past work on BP’s safety culture and corporate safety oversight places us in a unique role to understand important aspects of this tragedy. In addition, as we stated to you in our letter of May 7 we are of the opinion that we have the legal authority to investigate this accident. All of us share your hope that every possible lesson will be learned from this accident so that nothing similar ever occurs again.
For all these reasons, the CSB intends to proceed with an investigation of the root causes of the accidental chemical release that destroyed the Deepwater Horizon rig and took the lives of 11 workers. The investigation will include the key investigators who were involved in the CSB’s 2005-2007 investigation of the March 23, 2005, explosion at the BP Texas City refinery. We intend to prioritize this work and to apply all of our available resources to ensure the best possible investigation.
Although we will be vigilant for any similarities to the Texas City explosion, as suggested in your letter, we believe it is also important that this investigation be approached without any preconceptions and that all possible underlying factors and causes are thoroughly
and objectively examined. Like other CSB investigations, the investigation should include an examination of key technical factors, the safety cultures involved, and the effectiveness of relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards. We further note that there are numerous other investigations of the April 20 accident that have either been announced or are underway, including those of your own committee, various federal regulatory agencies, and the presidential oil spill commission. To the extent possible, we will seek to coordinate and to avoid duplication of effort with those important activities, without compromising our statutory independence.
We would particularly welcome the Committee’s assistance in promoting cooperation with the other investigations that are currently underway, including help with obtaining relevant documents already collected from companies or other parties or otherwise in the possession of federal regulatory agencies. Additionally, we would appreciate the Committee’s help in ensuring the integrity and independence of the CSB investigation, as distinct from any criminal inquiries that may occur. Although we have the highest respect for those inquiries, it is important that law enforcement investigators collect information directly from the parties involved and not via the CSB investigative process, which requires an open exchange of information between key witnesses and our civilian safety investigators.
The CSB plans to focus on events prior to and including the explosion on April 20; we believe that an examination of the response to the disaster and the impact of the ongoing massive oil spill is beyond the CSB’s current resources and abilities.
To conduct this work, the Board will have to make some difficult choices and decisions. As you know, the CSB had a record-high caseload even before this disaster occurred. We already have a higher number of open investigations than we have actual investigators on staff. Accordingly, to investigate the rig disaster, we anticipate that certain extraordinary measures will be required, including:
Bringing certain ongoing investigations to a very rapid conclusion, including investigations of the major explosions at the Kleen Energy power plant (Middletown, CT) and the ConAgra Slim Jim facility (Garner, NC) Terminating certain smaller investigations and placing other investigations on hold pending a further definition of the scope for the BP/Transocean investigation Temporarily reassigning personnel within the agency to support the new investigation Subject to existing Congressional and OMB notification requirements, drawing upon the Board’s $847,000 emergency investigative fund to put in place appropriate contracts and experts as rapidly as possible Requesting supplemental funding, as needed, to ensure a thorough and complete investigation. We note that the total cost of the CSB’s prior investigation on BP Texas City was approximately $2.5 million. However, the new BP/Transocean investigation presents in many respects an even higher level of cost and complexity.
We thank you and the Committee for your recognition of the importance of our safety investigations and for your longstanding support of our mission.
Sincerely,
(Signed)
John S. Bresland
Chairman
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant leak-complete shutdown averted
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June 16, 2010- The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power plant, operated by Entergy, reportedly had a near emergency shutdown recently when a cooling water valve started leaking heavily. The leak was of the order of 1.6 gallons of radioactive water per minute (far above the “legally allowable” limit of 1 gallon per minute). However regulatory officials and the plant management claimed that there was no immediate danger.
The maintenance team replaced the faulty valve within about five hours after the incident. If they had been unsuccessful, probably the plant would have had to do an emergency shutdown as per the rules. Local sources said that the 38 year old plant was prone to “many leaks” in the recent past, but these reports could not be independently verified. The latest incident underscores however that the public belief that nuclear energy is “far better” than fossil fuel based energy (after the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill) is not correct. Nuclear power plants also have their risks, although the proper engineering and management of the safety systems can mitigate these risks to a large extent. This was also thought before the BP Oil Spill about offshore drilling….now of course we know how that went awry.
Obama says BP oil spill disaster is the worst that America has ever faced
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June 16, 2010- US President Barack Obama, in a nationally televised address today said that the current BP oil spill disaster is the worst that America has ever faced. He said that tomorrow, when he would be meeting BP’s Chairman, he would ask that BP set aside enough resources to compensate everybody who has been adversely affected by the oil spill, which maybe includes the lost income of shrimp farmers, fishermen as well as oil workers who are unable to earn due to the moratorium on drilling operations in the Gulf.
This environmental disaster is proving to be worse than the Exxon Valdez oil spill a decade back. In fact some experts say that this present BP oil spill is the equivalent of having an Exxon Valdez type disaster every four days!
