February
19, 2002 Arkansas Ammonia Leak Injures 12
An anhydrous ammonia release at an Arkansas seafood plant resulted in evacuations and twelve injuries, according to the NRC. A broken fitting on an industrial plate freezer at Westward
Seafood resulted twelve injuries and evacuation of 200 employees. The release was secured within 5 minutes. There were no reported community impacts due to the release.
February 18, 2002 Delaware Chemical Leak
Injures 1
A chemical release hurt one man and sent a cloud of vapor into the air at the Honeywell International Inc. plant in Delaware. About 100 gallons of oximesilane and n-hexane escaped during the accident. Company officials acknowledged Tuesday that a chemical cloud drifted across Philadelphia Pike during the accident Monday, reversing earlier claims that pollution never escaped the plant. None of the escaped chemicals posed a threat to surrounding areas, company, state and fire officials said later. The state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control said it was investigating reports that the release from Honeywell sickened one man and damaged paint on cars at the nearby General Chemical Inc. Delaware Valley Works.
Source: CSB CIRC
February 13, 2002 Two Die in Kuwaiti Urea Plant
Accident
Two foreign workers were killed in an accident at a Kuwait Petrochemicals Co urea plant, newspapers reported on Wednesday.
The men died on Tuesday of suffocation while doing maintenance work at the state-owned plant at Shuaiba refinery, the newspapers said, giving varying accounts of what caused the accident. Late last month an explosion killed four people and damaged major crude oil and gas production facilities in northern Kuwait.
Source: CSB CIRC
February 12, 2002 Louisiana Chemical
Plant Explosion Kills One
An explosion and flash fire during maintenance activities at a Shell Chemical Co. plant killed one worker, authorities said. The blast occurred while several employees were cleaning out a container as part of routine maintenance. An investigation was being conducted by the company and Louisiana State Police.
Source: CSB CIRC
February 10, 2002 Large Sulfur Leak
injures 1 in Delaware
More than 1,000 tons of molten sulfur spilled from a storage tank at the General Chemical plant in
Delaware, injuring one worker, officials said. General Chemical officials estimated that 1,000 to 2,000 tons of sulfur spilled from the tank, and that 100 to 200 pounds flowed into a cooling water trench leading to the Delaware River.
No environmental damage was reported. The spill led to a fire at the tank site the following day morning.
Source: CSB CIRC
February 9, 2002 Two Workers
Exposed at Japanese Nuclear Plant
Two workers were exposed to a small amount of radiation and suffered minor burns hen a fire broke out at a nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan, a plant official said. The fire, in the basement of a reactor at Onagawa Nuclear Power Station, began during an inspection, and the flames were put out before they could spread with no danger of radioactivity spilling outside the building
Source: CSB CIRC
February 8, 2002 Australian
Pesticide Leak causes Major Environmental Problem
Schools and residents living near the scene of a serious pesticide spill have been warned of its dangers as hundreds of dead fish were being plucked from the waterway. Authorities' greatest concerns centered on the chemical affecting oyster farms downstream in the Georges River and further along in Botany Bay. Officials said the spillage occurred after a forklift punctured a drum containing the hazardous chemical at a depot in the nearby suburb of Wetherill Park at around midday on Friday.
Source: CSB CIRC
February 6, 2002 Eleven Injured in German Chemical Plant Blast
Eleven people were injured in an explosion at German chemical giant BASF's main plant in Ludwigshafen. The blast occurred when a 200 liter vat in which animal fodder additives were being mixed was blown into the air. BASF said the cause of the explosion was unclear, and couldn't immediately provide a damage estimate.
Source:
CSB CIRC
February 1, 2002 Industrial Section of Canadian City Closed by Explosion
Threat
Fears of a major explosion forced emergency officials to close down a large section of the industrial section of Hamilton. Thirty workers were evacuated from CanAmera Foods, a canola and soybean oil processing plant, after a small explosion and fire in a conveyor belt shortly before 10 a.m. The explosion happened after plant workers restarted the processing system after a power outage. The blast and fire did significant damage to a conveyor system and worked its way back to a hopper, which contained hexane.
Source:
CSB CIRC
January 31, 2002 Blast, Fire Kill 4 at Kuwaiti Production Facility
Four people died in a huge blast at a key oil-producing area in the north of OPEC member Kuwait. Officials say the explosion was caused by a leak from a pipeline that spread to a power substation. The fire occurred after an explosion rocked the Raudhatain oil field setting ablaze about half of an oil gathering center, a gas booster station and a power substation near the Iraqi border. Officials reported that the fire was a result of an technical fault, not terrorism or sabotage. The KOC facility is one of the most important in the north, but officials said Kuwait could compensate for the lost supply from other fields. The blaze hit gas booster station 130 and a part of gathering centre 15, which collects crude from a series of fields and can process 280,000 barrels per day (bpd), officials said.
January 31, 2002 Contra Costa County Refinery Release Hospitalizes 20
A sulfur dioxide, sulfur trioxide, and hydrogen sulfide release from Chevron's Richmond,
CA Refinery led to a community shelter in place command throughout the area near the refinery. Around 20 people were treated at area hospitals for complaints attributed to the release, including dizziness and burning eyes and throat. The malfunction of a sulfur removal unit prompted Chevron to report the release at 1:06 p.m., according to a time line released by Chevron. At 1:26 p.m., refinery employees determined the cloud could drift off-site and instructed county officials to activate all of the city's 22 warning sirens, including those in San Pablo.
Source:
CSB CIRC
January 29, 2002 Kentucky Chemical Plant Fire Sickens Residents, Animals
Smoke from a fire at a Westlake Monomers plant blew across the Tennessee River and southern Livingston County, including the Newbern community, as
rescuers directed a shelter-in-place. Firefighters and residents reported
animals nearby exhibiting symptoms of exposure to the toxic gas, with small birds dying, and a dog was also reported dead.
No one was injured in the initial explosion, which burned for three hours and Westlake's own onsite fire-suppression unit put out the fire. Company officials estimated that up to 5,000 pounds of chlorine and 5,000 pounds vinyl chloride could have been set free. Westlake's Calvert City operations make various vinyl products used in many consumer and industrial products, including PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pipe, windows, fencing and decking.
Source:
CSB CIRC
January 28, 2002 Hamburger Stand Propane Tank Explosion Injures 3
A propane explosion injured three unidentified people at a California RV Park. According to local fire officials, a procedural error in filling up a propane tank a local hamburger stand could have caused the fire. When the fire department arrived, the tank was venting propane. To protect nearby vendors and their property, firemen moved the tank to the middle of the desert and allowed it to harmlessly discharge the rest of the propane. The propane company was on a routine check of its customer's tank.
January 28, 2002 Man Seriously Injured During Tanker Cleaning
A man was critically injured when a nearly empty oil-tanker he was cleaning exploded. The man was using a high-pressure hot water hose to clean out
residual crude oil from a 10,000 gallon tanker trailer and may have been on top of the tanker when the explosion occurred. The force of the blast knocked him down and blew a tanker lid about 65m.
January 26, 2002 Chinese Mine Blast Kills 27
At least 27 miners were killed and 12 injured in two explosions at a Hebei province coal mine. Nineteen miners at the in were killed in the first blast and at least eight more miners were killed when a second explosion ripped through the mine as they were trying to recover the
victims of the first blast.
January 25, 2002 Pennsylvania Water Line Blast Injures 5
Five Pennsylvania-American Water Co. workers who were installing waterlines
were injured while attempting to release air pressure to charge the
waterlines when an abnormal amount of pressure built up in a 24-inch main
line. The line exploded, throwing two of the workers 10m out of the hole and
onto the road.
January 25, 2002 New Jersey Metals Plant Explosion kills 1
One person was killed and 14 injured in an explosion at a scrap metals factory. Workers at the factory were cleaning tantalum by running it through a series of acid baths when the blast occurred. The process involved nitric, hydrochloric and
sulfuric acids, and sodium hydroxide. No further details were about the incident were available- the plant had a history of violations and fines from both OSHA and EPA.
January 23, 2002 Georgia Water Supply Contaminated by Toxic Spill
A Fayette County, Georgia water treatment plant was shut down over concerns of contaminated water. Residents in south Fayette County, including Peachtree City, had reported a sweet smell to their water. Traces of ethylene glycol were found and officials are investigating a reported spill of a de-icing chemical at Hartsfield International Airport that may be responsible. De-icing chemical spilled into the Flint River from the airport's stormwater drainage system in early
January.
January 22, 2002 Delaware Refinery Reports "Internal" Hydrotreater
Explosion
Motiva shut a desulfurization unit and hydrotreater at its 175,000-barrel-a-day refinery after a fire. One employee was transported to the hospital for evaluation of a possible injury. The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control reported that the fire resulted from "a contained explosion" in the hydrotreater.
Sources and Disclaimer:
AcuSafe's Incident News Summary is primarily compiled from Reuters and AP news wires, and from information shared on the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board Chemical Incident Reports Center. An effort has been made to summarize stories only from reputable sources, but neither AcuSafe nor AcuTech Consulting can guarantee the accuracy of the story, nor do they necessarily reflect the views of AcuTech, AcuSafe, and its staff. We make no effort to independently corroborate the accuracy of the incident news stories.
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