Washington DC, November 4, 2009 – A six-member team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is deploying to the scene of today’s explosion and fire at the Silver Eagle Refinery in Woods Cross, Utah.
According to local officials, the explosion in the diesel hydrotreater unit caused damage to homes in the surrounding area and was felt several miles away from the facility.
The CSB is investigating a January 2009 flash fire at the same refinery that burned two refinery operators and two contractors. The investigation team will be led by CSB Investigations Supervisor Donald Holmstrom and will be arriving Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.
This seems to be an unfortunate season of accidents and undesirable events at petroleum facilities all over the world. Whether this is a coincidence, or a reflection of today’s cost cutting management practices, needs to be investigated more in depth.