Was poor area classification to blame for explosion at Veolia ES Technical Solutions Hazardous Waste Facility?
July 21, 2010, Washington DC- The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has come out with its investigation report on the 2009 explosion and fire at the Veolia ES Technical Solutions L.L.C. facility in West Carrollton, Ohio. It calls on the waste management industry the industry to improve safety standards covering
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hazardous waste processing, handling, and storage facilities. The Board also recommended that fire protection codes be revised to require companies to determine safe distances between occupied buildings and potentially hazardous areas.
This is because in the accident, flammable and explosive vapors of a solvent Tetrahydrafuran (THF) leaked and traveled some distance away from the processing area to an area that apparently was not classified as a hazardous area. These flammable vapors found anignition source and exploded, devastating the facility and the neighborhood too.
Read the entire report here (given below).
The accident occurred on May 4, 2009, when flammable vapor was released from a waste recycling process, ignited, and violently exploded. The blast seriously injured two workers and damaged 20 nearby residences and five businesses. CSB investigators found that the north wall of the lab and operations building – where the victims were injured – was less than 30 feet from the waste recycling processing area where the flammable vapor was released.
CSB Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso said, “This accident should not have happened. Our report notes that OSHA cited the company for inadequate attention to process safety management practices in the handling of flammable liquids. But in case of an accident, I believe it is absolutely critical that buildings at chemical facilities be sited safe distances from process equipment to maximize the safety of workers. We are making recommendations that would help ensure that operating areas with occupied buildings such as control rooms be sufficiently separated from process areas containing flammable liquids and gases that have the potential to explode.”
The Board issued a recommendation to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), which develops codes and standards for industry, urging NFPA to require companies to perform engineering analyses to determine safe separation distances between buildings occupied by administrative and other personnel not essential to process operations, and buildings housing the potentially hazardous process equipment.
The Board also revised a previous recommendation to the Environmental Technology Council, a hazardous waste industry trade group, to petition the NFPA to develop a standard specific to hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities. This would include guidance on reducing the likelihood of fires, explosions, and releases of hazardous waste.
Dr. Moure noted, “The Environmental Technology Council did not respond adequately to our 2007 recommendation, which we issued following an explosion and massive fire at the Environmental Quality hazardous waste facility in Apex, North Carolina, to work for more stringent standards in the hazardous waste industry. I strongly urge the industry to act now. These facilities, by their nature, contain wide varieties of flammable and toxic materials that can cause significant injury to workers and threaten the well being of nearby communities. Facility owners and operators need stricter technical requirements to improve the safety of life and property.”
The report notes that after a normal run of the tetrahydrafuran (THF) solvent recovery process at the Veolia facility, the unit operator began a routine shutdown. Completing the process required blowing nitrogen back through the circulation piping to clean it, prior to closing valves.
CSB lead investigator Johnnie Banks said, “At the time of the shutdown, witnesses reported hearing the sound of a sudden, loud vapor release and smelling a very strong odor of THF solvent which knocked several employees to their knees. It was a matter of just a couple of minutes until the highly flammable vapor ignited.”
The vapor drifted to the laboratory and operations building and found an ignition source inside the building. A worker in the control room reported being enveloped in a fireball that went through the building. The first explosion knocked over a bank of lockers, severely injuring an employee and pinning him underneath.
Because of the extensive fire damage, the CSB was unable to conclusively determine the exact initiating event for the vapor release, concluding one of two possible scenarios likely occurred. In the first scenario, air may have been drawn into a tank containing THF residue and peroxides, causing increased pressure in the tank and forcing flammable vapor from the tank to escape through a manway cover or a vacuum breaker.
In the second possible scenario, CSB investigators believe a line hose, intended to send pressurized nitrogen into a different tank, may have instead been connected to a tank containing unprocessed, flammable liquid. When the nitrogen was applied, it forced flammable vapor out through the tank vent. In either scenario, the vapor drifted to the operations building and ignited, causing the injuries.
In addition to issuing recommendations to NFPA and the hazardous waste industry, the Board also issued recommendations to Veolia, which is rebuilding the plant. The CSB called on the company to restrict occupancy in buildings in close proximity to the operating plant to personnel trained in the safe operation and orderly shutdown of the plant. The Board also called on the Center for Chemical Process Safety, a division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, to revise control room siting guidelines to address the characteristics of all Class 1B flammable liquids.
Yet Another Hot Work Accident in Colorado-CSB chief expresses regret
Washington, DC, July 9, 2010 — Dr. Rafael Moure-Eraso, chairperson and CEO of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) said today he was saddened by news of the death of a Colorado welder yesterday while performing what is called “hot work” on a storage tank containing flammables at an environmental remediation company in Englewood, Colorado.
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Hot work is defined as welding, cutting, grinding, or other spark-producing activities that can ignite flammable substances. To date in 2010, the CSB has learned of 15 serious hot work-related fires and explosions that caused six reported fatalities and numerous injuries.
Dr. Moure said, “I am saddened by this accident and disturbed that such fatalities continue to occur. The CSB is vitally concerned about hot work accidents and this was expressed in our important safety bulletin and safety video, both issued within the past few months.”
According to information gathered by the CSB from the fire department and the company, a worker was standing on a ladder, welding on the side of a tank partially filled with a mixture of water and flammable hydrocarbons. Sparks ignited flammable vapor and the worker was thrown off the ladder, suffering fatal injuries.
The company stated that although it has a hot work permit system and had provided safety training to the victim, there was no monitoring for a flammable atmosphere before or during the welding. ( What a joke-how can anybody issue a permit when they haven’t measured the flammable gas concentration in the area-do they expect a piece of paper will actually prevent an accident?!). While current OSHA standards prohibit hot work in an explosive atmosphere, OSHA does not explicitly require the use of combustible gas detectors.
There have been more than 60 fatalities since 1990 due to explosions and fires from hot work activities on tanks. In seven of the 11 accidents discussed in the bulletin, no gas testing was performed prior to or during the hot work activities. In the remaining cases, monitoring was conducted improperly.
Dr. Moure said, “There is no secret to preventing these accidents. Companies should require effective monitoring of the atmosphere before and during all welding or other spark-producing activities near tanks that may contain flammable liquids or gases. Monitoring should be frequent or continuous and performed at multiple locations to assure that no flammable vapor is present which could be ignited. Monitoring the atmosphere and following the other six key lessons in our bulletin can help avoid these tragedies.”
Will CSB investigate the BP Transocean Deepwater Horizon accident?
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June 9, 2010- The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) which is an important agency in the government that investigates accidents in the chemicals, oil & gas and similar industries, is being urged to investigate the BP/ Transocean oil rig (Deepwater Horizon) fire and sinking. Chairman John Bresland of the CSB issued the following release given below
Statement from CSB Chairman John Bresland Regarding
House Committee Request to Investigate BP Deepwater Horizon
I have received the letter from Chairmen Waxman and Stupak of the of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, requesting that the CSB investigate the BP Deepwater Horizon blowout. It is my desire that the CSB do everything it can to facilitate the request and to undertake the investigation and determine what factors led to the explosion and failure of the blowout prevention system.
The CSB, a small agency, is currently engaged in numerous investigations consuming all of our investigation staff. However, I will be consulting immediately with the rest of the board and with key staff to determine how we may put together a high-performing investigation team.
The CSB thoroughly investigated the BP Texas City refinery explosion of 2005 and issued a lengthy report and hour-long CSB Safety Video following our investigation, and as the letter from the committee chairmen states, we would be in a unique position to address numerous questions about BP’s safety culture and practices, and to answer the questions outlined in the House committee letter today. The CSB investigation report and safety video may be viewed at www.CSB.gov.
In addition, at the CSB’s urgent recommendation in 2005, BP convened a special panel under the leadership of former Secretary of State James Baker to evaluate the safety culture at BP’s North American refineries. That report was published in January 2007.
We will be making key decisions on the matter in the next few days and we thank the Committee on Energy and Commerce for its interest in and support of CSB investigation activities
Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Explosion in the Gulf of Mexico Oil spill gets worse
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April 29, 2010- The oil rig explosion and fire that occured in the Gulf of Mexico last week is now thought to be leaking out five times the oil than originally estimated. The new estimate is 42,000 gallons per day of crude. This can cause large scale damage to the marine environment in the area. The US Coast Guard has now stepped in to contain the slick and now plans are afoot to burn off the oil spill.
The original Deepwater Horizon accident can be found in this blog post here.
This seems to have a bad impact on the share price of BP, which saw continued weakness in the markets on the news. Upto now the shares have dropped more than 11%, resulting in a loss of market cap of about $20 billion. This shows how important Safety, health and the environment is to a companies financial health too. This issue is often not understood by some company managements, who see no value in spending on good and safe engineering practices and maintenance.
The video below (posted on YouTube) shows the problem with great visuals.
Oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico-12 missing and several injured
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April 21, 2010 -Several people were missing and others reported to be injured, after an explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil rig, named Deepwater Horizon, is about 40 miles from the Louisiana coast is in operation for BP, through an owner -operator/ contractor company Transocean.
Several Coast Guard choppers and vessels are engaged in search and rescue operations in the area. The blast was reported to have occured on Tuesday night at about 10 pm. The cause remains unclear.
The environmental impact of the event is as yet not known. The missing persons apparently boarded a life boat, which is now untraceable. There is a video of the event on You Tube posted below.
