Louisiana Illuminator - April 6, 2024
By Greg Larose
A federal agency will look into separate accidental toxic chemical releases last year at facilities in the Baton Rouge area. Its findings could lead to safety suggestions for the companies involved, rather than any fines or punishment.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board issued a statement this week indicating that it will investigate the release of hydrogen fluoride and chlorine at the Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies facility in January 2023. It’s also examining the July explosion at the Dow facility in Plaquemine that released ethylene oxide.
“Fortunately no one was seriously injured or killed in either of these two events, but both involved the release of highly toxic chemicals… that could have put workers and nearby residents at serious risk under different circumstances,” CSB chairman Steve Owens said in the statement. “We want to make sure that similar incidents do not happen again at these facilities.”
The Plaquemine Dow plant had 10 emergency incidents in the four years prior to the July accident. Half occurred at the facility’s Glycol 2 unit where the explosion caused a fire that burned for nearly two days. Nearby residents were ordered to shelter in place. No injuries were reported.
Dow operates under a federal consent decree in Louisiana and Texas that the company signed in January 2021 due to previous violations of the Clean Air Act.
A heat exchanger ruptured at the Honeywell facility in Geismar, causing an explosion. It released approximately 870 pounds of hydrogen fluoride and 1,700 pounds of chlorine, according to the Chemical Safety Board. Nearby highways were closed, and workers at the facility sheltered in place until it was determined the toxins no longer posed a threat. No injuries were reported, and Honeywell estimated property damage at the facility to be $4 million.
A chemical leak killed a worker at the same Honeywell site in October 2021, and state records show there had been 15 toxic releases since that death, The Advocate reported.
Federal regulations require companies to report accidental toxic releases to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. Its records show Louisiana facilities reported 11 “accidental release events” to the board in 2023 — more than every other state but Texas — including the Dow Plaquemine and Honeywell explosions:
Two incidents at the Dow facility in Hanhville, one on Jan. 18 that caused substantial property damage and a second on Feb. 3 that resulted in serious injury.
- A Jan. 21 release from the PBF Energy refinery in Chalmette.
- A Jan. 21 release at the City Petroleum refinery in Sulphur
- An. April 3 incident at the IMTT bulk storage site in St. Rose, resulting in serious injury.
- A June 3 incident at Calcasieu Refining in Lake Charle
- A June 12 release by CenterPoint Energy in Sulphur
- An. Aug. 20 release at Diamond Green Diesel in Norco
- An Aug. 24 accident at the Marathon refinery in Garyville, where an explosion caused toxic fumes to leak for 15 hours before neighbors were ordered to evacuat
- An Aug. 23 incident at a Westlake Corp. facility in Sulphur, resulting in serious injury, was on the CPB event list released in October but not on the version from this past January.
SOURCE:
https://lailluminator.com/2024/04/06/toxic-releases/