USA: Honeywell opens probe of apparent leak at Geismar plant, shuts units

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USA: Honeywell opens probe of apparent leak at Geismar plant, shuts units

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Honeywell opens probe of apparent leak at Geismar plant, shuts units

The Advocate - January 24, 2023

Honeywell has opened an investigation into an incident Monday night that local officials described as a leak of dangerous hydrogen fluoride and chlorine gas from the company's plant near Geismar.

Honeywell has also shut units at the Mississippi River complex affected by what a company spokesman described Tuesday only as "a process unit incident."

"Honeywell is working with the appropriate agencies to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident," said Mike Hockey, company spokesman.

Local authorities said an explosion or loud bang was reported some time after 8 p.m. Monday, prompting precautionary highway closures on La. 30, La. 73, La. 3115 and River Road for about an hour.

Honeywell also called for its employees and those of neighboring plants to shelter in place, Hockey said.

The shelter order lasted until 9:16 p.m. when the all clear was given after company and government officials concluded there was no risk to the public. Highways were then reopened.

Ascension Parish Sheriff Bobby Webre said the explosion did not produce a fire or fireball but was closer to equipment bursting open because of high pressure.

Greg Langley, spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Quality, said a pressurized unit had failed and he speculated the pressurized release is what likely made the banging noise.

Langley said Honeywell officials told DEQ first responders late Monday night that all fence-line air monitoring detected no chemicals heading off Honeywell's site east of La. 3115.

The property is near the Ascension/Iberville Parish line amid other companies' chemical operations along the river.

No injuries were reported, Honeywell and local officials said.

DEQ officials could not yet say how large or small the release was. Those estimates are not usually made public for at least a week to 10 days.

Chlorine is a toxic, heavier-than-air gas that can linger and move along the ground and suffocate people at high enough levels.

Hydrogen fluoride, which becomes hydrofluoric acid when mixed with water, is a potent toxic chemical that can be fatal after contact with the skin in high enough concentrations. The chemical can also cause breathing problems, including fluid in the lungs, if inhaled in high enough concentrations.

Low concentration contact with the skin can lead to painful, slow-healing burns, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

The Geismar plant makes hydrogen fluoride, hydrofluoric acid and similar derivatives by reacting a mined rock called fluorspar with sulfuric acid. The company then uses the chemicals in units that make common refrigerants, regulatory records show.

In October 2021, a Prairieville man who was a Honeywell employee was killed after a valve failed and leaked hydrofluoric acid on him.

In an after-action report months after the fatality, Honeywell blamed that leak on a defective valve gasket made by another company, regulator records show. That manufacturer has disputed the claim in a lawsuit over the death.

SOURCE:
https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge ... 05078.html
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