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April
10, 2002 Kuwaiti Urea Plant Rocked by Blast
A fire broke out at an ammonia plant owned by the Petrochemicals Industry Co. (PIC) south of Kuwait City. A PIC employee told press officials the fire broke out in one of the company's two ammonia factories in a pre-heater for natural gas. PIC later said in a statement sent to Reuters the explosion occured in a pipe leading to a gas heater in the ammonia unit of the plant which was exchanged only two months ago. The fire was brought under control but forced a brief evacuation of the nearby Shuaiba refinery, some 500 yards from the factory, the sources said.
Source: CSB CIRC
April 9, 2002 Separate Chinese Mine Blasts
Kill 31 in same City
Thirty-one miners have been killed in two separate natural gas explosions in the same Chinese city. The first blast killed 24 miners and injured at least 40 at the Donghai Coal Mine in
Jixi, a city in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang. In a separate accident later that day, seven miners were killed by an explosion in the No 3 Pit of the Didao District Coal Co, Four miners were still missing. State media have quoted the head of the government industrial-safety agency as promising to improve safety at big mines and to close more small mines, which account for many deaths. Many small mines run by town officials or private investors lack fire and ventilation equipment.
Source: CSB CIRC
April 6, 2002 Louisiana Pipeline Leak Contaminates Bayou
A BP-Amoco pipeline ruptured and released about 100,000 gallons of oil into a coastal area known as Little Lake. BP Amoco shut down the pipeline as soon as it became aware of the spill and notified Garner Environmental, which dispatched five boats to begin containment and cleanup. It was not immediately clear what caused the rupture in the line that runs from the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port to the Alliance Refinery near New Orleans or to what extent the spill may have damaged marine or coastal wildlife.
April 4, 2002 Nine Injured in California Chemical Incident
Nine people were injured in a chemical accident at a wheel-manufacturing plant after a worker fell into a 12' deep vat of cleaning solution. The victim apparently became unconscious after hitting his head on a metal grate inside the vat, which contained tetrachloroethylene. A second employee at the firm suffered chemical burns in trying to rescue the man and later complained of breathing difficulty. Five firefighters and two employees from an ambulance company were also taken to a hospital after complaining of difficulty breathing and irritated skin. At 300 lbs., the first victim was too heavy for his brother to pull
from the vat. Firefighters tried to lift him out, but the walls of the vat were too high. Eventually they rigged a line over a beam above the vat, and pulled both men out. The worker wore street clothes and had no protective clothing or equipment, which might have prevented or lessened his injuries.
April 3, 2002 Russians Killed in Sabotage Attempt on Sugar Plant
A powerful explosion, believed to be the result of a business dispute,
destroyed the warehouse of a sugar company, killing the two men who allegedly
set it off. The victims, whose charred bodies were found under the debris at the
Primorsky Sakhar plant in the city of Ussuriisk, approximately 75 km north of
the Pacific port of Vladivostok, had allegedly been hired to set fire to the
warehouse. The head of the Primorye regional emergency situations headquarters
said that the suspects allegedly sneaked into the warehouse, poured gasoline on
sacks of sugar, then fired a flare from outside. The intensity of the resulting
blast tore off the warehouse gate, killing the suspected arsonists.
April 3, 2002 Nigerians take Rig Workers Hostage
Villagers from Amatu, in Bayelsa state, stormed a boat servicing a drilling rig off Nigeria's southern coast, taking hostage the 10 international and Nigerian oil workers. The hostage-takers demanded employment, oil contracts and other help from Shell in return for the workers' safe release. The villagers who abducted the oil workers were apparently angered by the destruction of several local boats by Nigerian security forces in January during an operation to free another captured Shell boat. The hostages were freed late the following day.
April 3, 2002 Texas Plant Fire leads to Evacuation
A fire involving naphthalene sulfate in a dryer unit at a chemical plant on Fort Worth's North Side injured at least ten and forced 60 to 70 people to undergo decontamination. A nearby food plant sent 350 workers home after the fire raised contamination fears. Dozens of workers at the Harvest Foods plant had to undergo decontamination, and the food on its production lines had to be discarded because of contamination fears.
April 2, 2002 Pakistani Gas Plant Shut Down after Rocket Attack
Fire broke out at an Oil and Gas Development Corporation (OGDC) gas well in Loti area of Dera Bugti district when it was hit by two rockets. According to official sources some unknown persons fired a number of rockets two of which landed and exploded near well No. 5. The explosion caused damage to the well and the gas pipeline also caught fire. Sources said that fire was brought under control after two hours by the staff of the OGDC and the local administration.
April 2, 2002 Queensland Sewer Treatment Plant Methane Leak leads to Evacuation
A wide area around a sewer plant was evacuated after a gas storage tank
began leaking methane. A spokesman for the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service
said the tank was used to store methane gas produced by the Luggage Point
sewerage plant, at the mouth of the Brisbane River. He said the top of the tank,
which was mounted to rise and fall with the amount of gas, had tilted to one
side, allowing some gas to escape.
April 2, 2002 Japanese Nuclear Reactor Shut after Vibration
Hokuriku Electric Power Co. temporarily shut down a reactor at the Shigahara Nuclear Power Plant after abnormal vibrations were discovered in a cooling pipe. Workers conducting a regular inspection of the No. 1 reactor detected a change in the pipes' vibration patterns and decided to manually shut down the reactor. The vibrations previously had an amplitude of 0.33 mm but were found to be fluctuating between 0.32 mm and 0.345 mm. There were no radioactive leaks.
March 31, 2002 Japanese Ship Collision Leads to Oil Spill
A Belize-registered cargo ship, the 2,847-ton Aige, with a crew of 18, sank after colliding with a 78-ton Japanese fishing boat, the No. 3 Koshi Maru, with eight crew on board, around 22
kilometers southeast of Dogo island. All of the 18 Chinese crew of the Belize vessel were rescued by the Japanese fishing boat and taken safely back to port, although some suffered minor injuries. There was some leakage of oil, and coast guard ships were dispatched to monitor it. . The Aige was carrying about a
cargo of scrap iron, 98.5 tons of fuel oil, and sank in a depth of 170 meters.
March 30, 2002 Pennsylvania Manure Spill Impacts Waterways
Manure spilled from a 1,000,000 gallon pit at a hog farm, turning the water black in a nearby waterway that drains into a trout stream. Environmental damage could be significant. The amount spilled at the farm in south-central Pennsylvania was unknown because investigators do not know how long the manure was overflowing before it was reported. The owner of the farm could be charged with a misdemeanor for violating the state's clean-streams law.
March 29, 2002 Chinese Mine Explosion Kills 22
Twenty-two workers were killed by an explosion at the state-owned Xinfeng mine in central China. Temperatures inside the mine near Yuzhou city rose beyond safety levels, triggering a gas explosion. There were 25 miners inside at the time of the accident. Three miners survived.
March 28, 2002 Lightning Ignites Moroccan Cobalt Plant
A fire caused by lightning erupted at one of Morocco's leading cobalt plants
but was soon extinguished without affecting the production units. The incident,
which occurred at Guemmassa's plant, which produces 1,500 tons of cobalt per
year, caused no casualties.
March 25, 2002 Texas Beer Spill Caused by Collision
"Countless gallons" of beer spilled when a train and a semi tractor-trailer collided outside the Coors Beer Distributors building on US 84. driver of the truck was turning left into the building's parking lot from the eastbound lanes of US 84 when the train struck the trailer. Neither she nor two passengers in the truck were injured. The trailer and its load, beer being transported to the distributorship from Colorado, were mostly unsalvageable.
March 24, 2002 Catalyst Leak from Texas Refinery
An estimated 40,000 pounds of silica catalyst was released after a valve at Wyoming Refinery Co Newcastle oil refinery froze on a cold night. The dust drifted northwest, coating homes, cars and roads. The accident occurred when the plant was closed for routine maintenance. On April 3 it was revealed that more than twice as much catalyst escaped than first reported. Early reports put the amount at 7 tons, but possibly as much as 20 tons was emitted. Several residents have reported blisters and other skin irritations.
March 23, 2002 Lebanese Paint Plant Explosion Injures 3
An explosion at a paint factory burned the plant to the ground, releasing black fumes and toxic gasses, destroyed a nearby resident's kitchen, and drove five families from their homes. Three workers sustained slight burns in the incident. The plant produced paint and stored paint thinner and other highly flammable material. Located in the middle of a dense residential area, the plant opened approximately 40 years ago, when, according to locals, there were only three houses in the area. Environment Minister Michel Musa said the explosion definitely due to a lack of safety measures, adding: "I am 100 percent sure that no factory in Lebanon takes chemical safety measures". The factory has had similar, smaller explosions every six months and an even larger explosion occurred in 1982.
Sources and Disclaimer:
AcuSafe's Incident News Summary is primarily compiled from news wires, online
sources, 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.
All information accessed in this report is public domain information. We make no effort to independently corroborate the accuracy of the incident news stories.
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