Incidents, Week 05, 2012

01.28 Syria 120128-01 Province of Deir Al-Zour. Syria's Oil Ministry said that an armed group attacked an oil pipeline in the eastern province of Deir Al-Zour, with an explosion that led to a huge fire. However, Syrian opposition activists said the oil pipeline took a direct hit and caught fire as government troops shelled the town of Qoriah. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees said the shelling killed at least one person.

The explosion severed the pipeline, which was carrying oil from the Al-Omar oilfield. The oilfield is administered by Al-Furat Petroleum Company, of which the government owns a 50 pct stake. Around 2,000 barrels of oil were lost in the incident, however, production did not come to a halt as the oilfield is equipped with backup lines, said a ministry official. The main lines are expected to be fixed in two days' time.

01.28 USA 120128-02 PA, East Stroudsburg. A car crashed into a roadside chemical storage tank in Smithfield Township and caught fire. The car struck a standing chemical tank filled with Bioxide, a proprietary name for a chemical solution used to control hydrogen sulphide odour from wastewater. The crash reportedly “triggered a big response from emergency service personnel because the chemical in the storage tank, bioxide, is explosive and highly flammable”.

There are about ten different versions of Bioxide, mostly manufactured by Siemens. They are typically aqueous nitrate solutions, listed on the MSDS as “non flammable”.

01.28 UK 120128-03 Oxfordshire, Chippinghurst. An area described as “a 400-acre hamlet” was closed off after a man tried to commit suicide using hydrogen sulphide. ...

01.29 USA 120129-01-A OK, Kingfisher County, Kingfisher. Continental Operating Co. Fire-fighters were called to an oil tank battery fire in rural Kingfisher County. The Kingfisher County Sheriff's Office said one of the tanks caught fire about 10:00.

Kingfisher County officials later said they were investigating whether someone deliberately caused the explosion and fire. According to the Kingfisher Fire Department, a bullet fired at the tank “caused pressure to build up and explode”. The fire damaged two of three Continental Operating Co. oil tanks. No one was injured.

Later, on January 30, a local TV channel reported that the explosion did quite a bit of damage, blowing the top off the tank and sending it 80 yards away. It also “scattered gas pipe around the surrounding wheat pasture”.

01.29 USA 120129-02 IN, Fort Wayne. Police found several items commonly used to make bombs inside a home on the city’s north side after an explosion injured a 43-year-old man, who was taken to hospital in critical condition. Police spokeswoman Raquel Foster said in a written statement that the man had made an explosive mixture that “became rock-like” and “began to engage” it with a chisel when [Sic. Presumably before.] it exploded at 19:14. Foster said the exact makeup of the substance remained under investigation. The man’s two teenage children were present at the time of the explosion, with at least one sustaining an injury. Foster said the injured child was treated at a Fort Wayne hospital and released.

01.29 India 120129-03 Maharashtra state, Nagar tehsil, Khare Karjune village. Two labourers were killed in an explosion at an Army firing range in Khare Karjune village. ...

01.29 UK 120129-04 Scotland, 120 miles west of Shetland, Foinaven field. BP. The Foinaven field was closed down after a small leak was discovered. ...

01.29 China 120129-05 Guangdong Province, Ling'ao. Daya Bay Nuclear Power Operations and Management Corporation. A technical glitch occurred in the Ling'ao Nuclear Power Plant ...

01.29 China 120129-06 Hunan Province. In a video clip from a security camera, shown on Japan's TV Asahi evening news, a Chinese man was seen lighting a firecracker on a manhole. ...

01.30 USA 120130-01 WI, Madison. University of Wisconsin-Madison. A staff member at the UW-Madison Chemistry Building was injured in an explosion in a laboratory at 09:34. UW-Madison police Sgt. Aaron Chapin said the explosion was contained in the laboratory and posed no danger to others in the building or outside, adding: "The building is operating and the lab where the incident took place is the only facility that's closed so we can investigate." Chapin did not know what chemical or chemicals were involved.

UW-Madison spokesman John Lucas said a lab experiment ignited and broke a glass container holding the chemicals. He said the person injured was cut by glass.

01.30 Australia 120130-02 Victoria, Melbourne, Ringwood. Yarra Valley Grammar School. A major fire broke out in the science block of the Yarra Valley Grammar School at about 19:10. It took 100 fire-fighters almost three hours to control the blaze, which caused more than A$1 million damage to the building. Residents in neighbouring properties were warned to stay inside and shield themselves from the smoke. A Metropolitan Fire Brigade spokesman said MFB and Country Fire Authority fire-fighters attacked the blaze aggressively, which prevented the fire spreading to a nearby library and computer wing, adding: “Fire-fighting operations were hampered by several issues including a lack of water pressure and access in and around the science block due to the site topography.” Two fire-fighters suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene by paramedics.

01.30 USA 120130-03-A MI, Muskegon. Cannon-Muskegon Corp. No injuries are being reported after a foundry furnace exploded at Cannon-Muskegon Corp. ...

01.30 Syria 120130-04 Telkalakh, Tal Hosh. Syrian officials said a “terrorist group” blew up a gas pipeline near Telkalakh, close to the Lebanese border. ...

01.30 Brazil 120130-05-A Rio de Janeiro, Port of Rio de Janeiro. Triunfo Logistica. One person was killed and two others injured in an explosion inside a storm drain in the Port of Rio ...

01.30 USA 120130-06 NJ, Belvidere. BASF Corp. Workers demolishing a tower at the former BASF Corp. chemical plant in Belvidere ruptured a pipe containing vinyl acetate, ...

01.30 Azerbaijan 120130-07 Geychaysky District, Garayazy Village. SOCAR. Azeriqaz Industrial Association. Frosty weather in Azerbaijan led to gas leak at the main Gazi-Magomed- ...

01.30 USA 120130-08 GA, Riceboro. Interstate Paper. A fire at Interstate Paper in Riceboro broke out in one of the mill's drying kilns. ...

01.30 Australia 120130-09-A Victoria, near Mildura. Treasury Wine Estates. About 250,000 litres of wine spilled from a tank at a winery after a door failed. ...

01.30 Ukraine 120130-10 Sumy region. A freight train derailed and spilled 120 tonnes of diesel and 60 tonnes of dangerous chemicals in northern Ukraine’s Sumy region. ...

01.30 Spain 120130-11 Valencia, Llíria. Pirotecnia Faubel. An explosion at Pirotecnia Faubel, in the Valencian town of Liria, destroyed a material storage shed and started a fire, ...

01.30 Austria 120130-12 Steiermark, Kapfenberg. Böhler Edelstahl GmbH & Co KG. After a technical defect, oil spilled into a storm sewer, then into the Thörl Mürz, and further into the river ...

01.30 UK 120130-13 Surrey, Haslemere. The Herons. Fire-fighters were called at 08:40 to a chemical spill at The Herons leisure centre in Haslemere. ...

01.30 UK 120130-14 Dumfries and Galloway, Lockerbie. Lockerbie Academy. Fire-fighters were called to Lockerbie Academy after a bromine spill. ...

01.31 USA 120131-01-B CA, San Onofre. Southern California Edison. A precautionary shutdown at San Onofre Nuclear Plant occurred at 17:30 after sensors detected a possible leak in one of the steam generator tubes of Unit 3. “The potential leak poses no imminent danger to the public or plant workers," the utility company said in its statement. There has been no release to the atmosphere." SCE Spokesman Gil Alexander said that as of 18:30, no emergency classification had been needed or issued under the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a result of the event, but the NRC was immediately informed of this development.

On February 1, it was reported that a tiny amount of radiation could have escaped from the plant, a statement causing rumblings among the local population only slightly less than those of a major slip in the San Andreas fault.

Of somewhat greater concern was a report by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that many tubes in the primary heat exchanger – between the nuclear and non-nuclear sides of the plant – were damaged. The tubes are part of equipment that is almost new, having been installed in 2010. NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said: “The damage that they have found to many other tubes is unusual, and they are attempting to identify the reason.”

On February 2, the NRC said that extensive wear had been found on the tubes inside a unit at the San Onofre nuclear plant, after another unit was placed off-line after a leak earlier in the week. According to Dricks, dozens of relatively new tubes that carry radioactive water in a steam generator showed "many, many years" worth of wear, even though the tubing is only 22 months old. Nearly 70 tubes, formed into a U-shape, had 20% of their interior lining worn off, while hundreds more had 10% of the lining deteriorated. More than 9,000 tubes are in the steam generator. Dricks said that some of the tubes will require repair, while others will probably have to be replaced.

However, officials for Southern California Edison, which operates the facility and is a majority owner, said it was premature to make any determination, and that continued tests will be conducted. The unit is off-line for a scheduled maintenance period of several months for technology upgrades and fuel replacement, said Gil Alexander, an Edison spokesman.

In November, 2011, the NRC and environmental groups criticized plant operators for taking more than an hour to notify the public of an ammonia leak from a storage tank in the water treatment plant that prompted the evacuation of some workers. [HInt 11-11a, 111101-01.] There was no danger to the public.

01.31 Brazil 120131-02 Mato Grosso do Sul state, Bataguassu. Marfrig Alimentos S.A. Four people died and sixteen others became ill as a result of a toxic gas leak around 11:00 at a tannery in the industrial complex in Bataguassu, in the south-western state of Mato Grosso do Sul. A specialized group of fire-fighters cordoned off the tannery and sprayed water over it to form a mist with the aim of preventing the spread of the toxic substance, identified as dichloro-propionic acid. A spokesman for Marfrig, the company that owns the complex, confirmed that the escape of the chemical had been controlled, and that it did not affect the adjacent meat-processing plant. The company was investigating the cause of the accident, but it is believed to have started when a chemical reaction occurred during the handling of substances used in the treatment of leather.

01.31 Syria 120131-03 City of Homs, Bab Amro district. An explosion set on fire a crude oil pipeline feeding a Syrian oil refinery in the city of Homs. ...

01.31 USA 120131-04 TX, Sacul. Fagen Inc. Two workers were critically burned in what appeared to be an electrical explosion and fire at a biomass power plant in Sacul, in east Texas. ...

01.31 USA 120131-05 TX, Wood Station. Holly Energy Partners LP. Crude pipeline and storage company Holly Energy Partners reported a leak at the Wood Station pump complex ...

01.31 Australia 120131-06 NSW, Tumut. Visy Paper, Tumut Kraft Mill. A second fire broke out at the Visy Pulp and Paper mill near Tumut. ...

01.31 USA 120131-07 IL, Wood River. ConocoPhillips. ConocoPhillips reported a flare gas recovery compressor failure on the north property of its 362,000 bpd joint-venture refinery ...

01.31 Australia 120131-08-A NSW, Broadwater. NSW Sugar Milling Co-operative Ltd. A sugar mill was evacuated after almost a litre of mercury was spilt. ...

01.31 USA 120131-09 ND, Grand Forks. University of North Dakota (UND). A fire broke out in an organic chemistry lab at UND after a graduate student mixed isopropyl alcohol and ...

01.31 USA 120131-10 LA, Garyville. Marathon Petroleum Corp. Marathon shut down Hydrocracker Unit 215 at its 464,000 bpd refinery at around 19:00 after a leak resulted in a release of ...

01.31 Russia 120131-11 Amur region. About 240 tonnes of oil spilled from a derailed train in Russia's Far East. ...

01.31 USA 120131-12 IN, Whiting. BP Plc. On February 3, sources familiar with refinery operations said BP had shut one of two gasoline-making fluid catalytic cracking units ...

01.31 Brazil 120131-13, Atlantic Ocean Carioca Nordeste area, Santos Basin. Petrobras. Petrobras and Brazil's environmental protection agency (IBAMA) announced that 26 cubic metres of ...

02.01 UK 120201-01 Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, West Burton. EDF Energy. Fire-fighters from Retford, Misterton and Gainsborough, and an Environmental Protection Unit from Stockhill, were called to clean up a spillage of hydrazine at West Burton power station. A spokesman for EDF Energy, who run the plant, said that the no one was harmed or injured in the leak, adding: “We can confirm that the Lincolnshire Fire Service was called to its [sic] West Burton power station around 7am, after site operations identified fumes coming from a chemical bund (a form of overflow vessel) in the area of units 3 and 4 at the station. The station was evacuated pending further investigation of what is currently believed to be a chemical leak. By 10am, the leak had stopped and the fire brigade had left site. There were around 120 people evacuated into the canteens and they are now returning to work as normal. There were no injuries or anyone affected from the leak.”

02.01 Pakistan 120201-02 Islamabad, Sector G-12, Mirza Chowk. What was feared to be a terrorist attack turned out to be a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinder explosion at a shop in Sector G-12. The police suspect that the shop’s owner, Majid Abdur Rehman, was transferring gas from one cylinder to another, causing the shop to fill with gas. Some illegally stored cylinders at the shop were also believed to be leaking.

Investigation Officer ASI Shabbir Ahmed said a [Traditional, Ed.] short circuit triggered the explosion when the leaking gas caught fire and the cylinders exploded with a bang. He said Rehman, the owner, ran out of the shop to save his life after the short circuit occurred. The police arrived at the scene and called in the fire brigade, which put out the fire after an hour. The Ramna police registered a case against Rehman for illegally storing locally manufactured LPG cylinders and for cylinder-to-cylinder filling, which is prohibited under the law.

02.01 USA 120201-03 TX, Baytown. Exxon Mobil Corp. On February 2, Exxon Mobil said planned turnaround maintenance had begun the previous day on a fluid catalytic-cracking unit and ...

02.01 USA 120201-04 LA, Belle Chasse. ConocoPhillips. On February 2, ConocoPhillips said a release of light hydrocarbons had occurred due to an upset at an unspecified unit at its ...

02.01 Germany 120201-05 Niedersachsen, Wolfsburg. Ferdinand-Porsche-Realschule. A cleaning trolley parked in the girls' toilet of the school caught fire. ...

02.02 USA 120202-01 VA, Middleburg. Middleburg Academy. According to Loudoun County Fire officials, around 09:00 there was a small chemical spill in a science lab in Middleburg Academy. Loudoun County Fire spokeswoman Mary Maguire said only one adult was exposed to the spill and they were taken to a local hospital for treatment. She said that hazmat units were at the school “trying to determine the nature of the product that was spilled and once they do that they will stabilize it”.

Cindy Fenton, Middleburg Academy's director of development and marketing said a teacher spilled a chemical, but no students were in the room when the spill occurred.

02.02 USA 120202-02 MA, Wrentham. King Philip High School. The Wrentham Fire Department responded to the King Philip High School for a reported chemical spill. Fire-fighters were dispatched at 08:20, and remained at the school for half an hour. No injuries were reported.

Wrentham Fire Chief Jay McMorrow said the incident involved sodium acetate and water spilling into an [electric power] outlet at one of the school's labs. According to McMorrow, the socket began to spark and smoke, prompting the department's response. He said the smoke, more than the chemical, was the issue here, and that there were no injuries. McMorrow said he believed the lab would be closed until an electrician works on the outlet.

02.02 UK 120202-03-A North Yorkshire, York. University of York. Eleven fire engines were called to the chemistry department of the University's Heslington campus, after smoke was ...

02.02 USA 120202-04 UT, Sanpete County, Delta. Intermountain Power Project (IPP). An explosion in one of the power units at the Delta Intermountain Power Project (IPP) shut down ...

02.02 Germany 120202-05 Niedersachsen, Wilhelmshaven, Rüstersiel district. Ineos. According to Ineos, there was a minor chlorine release from its Wilhelmshaven plant. ...

02.03 USA 120203-01 NJ, Port Reading. Hess Corp. Gasoline in New York Harbor strengthened as Hess Corp. began the shutdown of a catalytic cracker for maintenance at its Port Reading refinery in New Jersey. The duration of repairs at the 70,000 bpd refinery will not be known until after the unit is halted, the company said in an e-mailed statement on February 2.

02.03 USA 120203-02 AK, North Pole. Flint Hills Resources. The Flint Hills Refinery at North Pole started a four-day shutdown to finish a project under which the 80,000 bpd refinery is installing facilities to recover some of the heat from the oil that it normally returns to the trans-Alaska pipeline. Refinery spokesman Jeff Cook said the company needs four days of weather with temperatures warmer than 20 below [Presumably below freezing, hence 12°F (-11°C), rather than -20°F, which would be -29°C.] to finish the tie-in work, so this warm spell appears to be a good moment for the shutdown. Normal operations are expected by February 7. The shutdown had been expected to take place on February 2, but it was delayed.

Cook said that oil in the pipeline is now arriving at the refinery at a temperature of about 40°F, but it has to be heated to 630°F as part of the refining process. The refinery takes in about 115,000 barrels a day from the pipeline and returns 80,000 of them to the pipeline, producing about 35,000 barrels a day of refined products. Until now, the oil has been returned to the pipeline at temperatures from 125°F to 140°F, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, but the refinery has had a project in the works for a year or so to recover some of that heat and send oil back into the pipeline at a lower temperature. In June 2010, Flint Hills told Alyeska to assume it would be at the same temperature the oil was supplied from the pipeline or up to 20 degrees warmer. The heat recovery project will help the refinery reduce its utility bill for heating crude oil. Petrostar already has a similar project in operation at its local refinery, according to federal documents.

The oil temperature in the trans-Alaska pipeline in the winter has become a matter of great concern with lower flow rates. At lower flow rates the oil stays in the pipeline much longer than in the early years of pipeline operation, and the oil becomes much cooler on its way to Valdez. To prevent the formation of ice at low spots where small amounts of water in the oil separate from the main stream, Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. has focused more attention on heating oil to keep up the temperature.

02.03 USA 120203-03 MO, Kansas City. American Century. A hazardous materials incident sent one person to the hospital this morning and forced the evacuation of an office building ...

02.03 USA 120203-04 PA, Mercer County, Greene Township. Bocor Holdings LLC. A fire destroyed the housing of a compressor station that serves eleven natural gas wells and a ...

02.03 France 120203-05 Rhône – 69, Feyzin. Total SA. At around 10:00, heavy, black smoke was seen coming from a flare at the Feyzin refinery, south of Lyon. ...

02.03 Colombia 120203-06 Tolima Department, Purificación municipality. Petrobras. Carmen Sofía Bonilla, director of the Corporación Autónoma Regional del Tolima (Cortolima), said: ...

02.03 Germany 120203-07 Baden-Württemberg, Öhringen. Hohenloher Krankenhaus GmbH. Energie direkt (Edi) Hohenlohe. An employee of Edi Hohenlohe noticed heavy smoke ...

02.03 China 120203-08 Sichuan province, city of Yibin. Diaoyutai Coal Mine. Two miners injured in a colliery gas explosion in southwest China's Sichuan province died on the way to hospital, ...

02.04 USA 120204-01 AL, Huntsville. Luna Tech Inc. Emergency and fire-fighter teams responded to a fire at Luna Tech Inc., a manufacturer of special effects pyrotechnics, also known as Pyropak. One woman was injured in a chemical fire at the plant, and was taken to the UAB burn centre by ambulance for treatment. Aaron Pearson, Chief Deputy Fire Marshal, reportedly said: "Upon arrival, one of the buildings where they mix the pyrotechnics caught on fire and had one person that had second degree burns to the face and hands."

02.04 India 120204-02 Karnataka, Bangalore. A man was killed and three people were severely injured in an explosion at a scrap yard in Hulimavu, Bangalore. The identity of the deceased is yet to be ascertained, but the victim, suspected to be a ragpicker, was around 45 years old. The injured were identified as Saravana, owner of the scrap yard, his mother, and Suresh, a local teenager. According to the police, around 11:00, the deceased went to the scrap yard to sell old detonators. Saravana asked him to separate the copper wire and other pieces from the detonators with the help of a hammer, so as to weigh them separately. After separating pieces from three or four detonators, the deceased hit a detonator with the hammer and it went off. Neighbours heard a deafening noise and informed the police. The police took all four to Victoria Hospital, but the ragpicker succumbed on the way.

The DCP of South-East division, Dr P S Harsha, said: “It is suspected that the exploded detonator was unused and was misplaced and hence it has gone off when hit by a hammer. The substances recovered from the spot have been sent to forensic laboratory. The details would be known only after ballistic experts give a report.”

It is possible that these were railway detonators [US: torpedoes.], widely used in India. Their scrap value lies in the lead strap, used to hold them to the rail.

02.04 Venezuela 120204-03 Monagas state, Jusepin. PDVSA. A Petroleos de Venezuela SA oil pipeline at Monagas state’s Jusepin complex suffered an explosion and leak. ...

Aftermath

Canada, 08.08.10: Explosion at Sunrise Propane A-080810-01 Toronto, Ontario. Sunrise Propane Inc. On January 30 – more than three years after Sunrise Propane’s facility in northwest Toronto exploded, killing a worker and forcing hundreds to flee their homes – the trial began and Sunrise Propane had a lawyer plead not guilty on its behalf. Sunrise employee Parminder [S] died in the explosion and fire-fighter Bob Leek suffered a fatal heart attack while fighting the fire that followed. The company is accused of not providing sufficient training and supervision and failing to protect the health and safety of [S], who worked as an attendant on Friday and Saturday nights, filling filled [sic] taxi and limousine propane cylinders.

Sunrise Propane faces several charges under provincial labour and environmental laws for its role in the explosion. At the start of the trial, defence lawyer Leo Adler pleaded not guilty on behalf of the propane company and two of its directors – Shay Ben-Moshe and Valery Belahov – to all of the charges. Prior to the start of proceedings, Adler said he hoped the trial would show that the explosion was an accident, and not the result of negligence, claiming: "By the time this case is over, people will understand that what occurred was a tragic accident that was due to a defective part."

For the prosecution, Crown counsel Nicholas Adamson said the explosion led to the evacuation of 12,000 people from the Downsview area and “caused asbestos to rain down on the neighbourhood” in addition to other debris.

An Ontario Fire Marshal’s report into the explosion found that an illegal "tank-to-tank” transfer was underway at the time of the explosion, and that a propane leak resulted from a hose failure. The ignition source of the blast had not been identified. The report noted that tank-to-tank and truck-to-truck transfers are both dangerous and illegal in Ontario. Sunrise had been warned about the practice prior to the explosion.

Canada, 11.12.13: Heavy water spill at NPP A-111213-04 Point Lepreau, New Brunswick. NB Power. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. On February 1, it was reported that NB Power had concluded that the heavy-water spill at New Brunswick's Point Lepreau nuclear power plant could have been avoided if changes had been made after similar incidents almost 17 years ago. ...

China, 12.01.15: Cadmium spill A-120115-06-C Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Hechi city, Yizhou. Guangxi Jinhe Mining Co Ltd. Jinchengjiang Hongquan Lithopone Material Co. Ltd. On February 2, experts handling the incident said the emergency cleanup of cadmium pollution in the Longjiang River would continue until the end of February. ...

France, 01.09.21: AZF explosion A-010921-xx Haute-Garonne – 31, Toulouse. AZote Fertilisants (AZF). During the thirteenth week of the hearing before the Court of Appeal, the hearings focussed on Hangar 335, where, according to the judicial experts, the accidental mix of incompatible products occurred, which could have caused the subsequent explosion in Hangar 221.

According to the original court dossier, DCCNa came from sacks stored in Hangar 335, where dirty sacks were stored before being sorted by the subcontractor Surca, and collected and recycled by the Forinserplast company. During the latest hearing, Gérard Vilair, former manager of Forinserplast, said that his workers were “very scrupulous” and watchful that all the sacks collected from the AZF site were empty before being collected. While admitting that “the sacks were not loaded individually, nor inspected individually”, M. Vilair assured the court that: “If the bags were not empty, they were left in place because they could pollute other lots during the recycling operation … But no trace of abnormal dirtiness were ever recorded on the dockets permitting the removal of the waste [sacks].”

Thierry Algans, who at the time of the incident worked for Forinserplast, collecting the sacks, said that the plastic bags were stored loose in Hangar 335, and were loaded by hand onto the collection truck. M. Algans explained that several times at the plant he had been “heavily affected by a strong odour, which stung the eyes, and which resembled chlorine” but he had never noted a chlorine product in Hangar 335. He said he did not notice the presence of an ammonium nitrate sack, torn, and half full that Gilles Fauré, an employee of Surca charged with sorting the plastic bags, swore to have found on September 19 after Forinserplast had been and gone. On January 19, Fauré told the court that he “finished tearing open the sack and took a shovel to transfer the product to the bin”. On September 21, 2001, twenty minutes before the explosion, Fauré tipped the contents of the bin onto a pile of off-specification ammonium nitrate in the entrance air-lock of Hangar 221.

On February 2, the court heard Jacques Mignard, a former employee and plant delegate for the CGT trade union. As in the earlier trial, Mignard said he found the idea of a chemical accident “unreasonable”. Having joined Grande Paroisse in 1967, when it was called Onia, Jacques Mignard worked in the safety sector from 1981 to 1987 and from 1991 to 2001, being charged with “overseeing the application of safety policy” at the plant and “to implicate and sensitise salaried employees” to these questions.

Before the court, Jacques Mignard, now President of the association of former AZF employees called Mémoire et Solidarité, recalled the circumstances under which the organisation was created in October, 2002: “The association was formed after the decision to close the plant and the general accusations concerning our responsibility in this disaster, in which we were, on the other hand, the victims. We did not accept and we still do not accept the manner in which the original inquiry was conducted, and in which our questions were, and remain, unaddressed.” Contrary to the majority of civil partners to the trial, Mémoire et Solidarité, like the defence counsel, contests the thesis of a chemical accident. M. Mignard added: “In our view, the chemical thesis is an unsustainable hypothesis. I do not despair that before the end of this appeal the real origins of the explosion will be uncovered, but even so I am a bit worried.”

USA, 09.08.28: Ammonia release at Columbus Foods A-090828-02 CA, South San Francisco. Columbus Manufacturing Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Columbus Foods LLC. On January 31, the US EPA and the Department of Justice announced that Columbus Manufacturing had agreed to pay a penalty and make significant upgrades to settle Clean Air Act violations. ...

USA, 11.08.29: Oil well explosion, fire A-110829-05 Near Glenrock, Converse County, WY. Samson Resources Co. Wild West Construction. Double D Welding and Fabrication. On January 31, it was reported that Wyoming safety regulators had issued 19 citations for an explosion and fire that killed three workers near an oil well. ...

USA, 11.09.20: Fire at metal finishing plant A-110920-xx NY, Syracuse. Anthony River Inc. On January 30, OSHA said it had cited Anthony River for nine serious and three repeat violations of workplace safety standards after an employee was burned at the metal finisher's Syracuse plant. Proposed penalties total $51,680. ...

USA, 12.01.19: Man injured in ordnance explosion 120119-08 MS, Gulfport. On February 1, it was reported that in addition to the victim Dale Ray [J], the ATF had arrested three men: Jack [W], his brother, Jimmy [W], and David [B]. ...

News

China: Toxic salt scam N-120201-03 Anhui province, Fuyang city. Three men who allegedly made and sold fake salt made from toxic pesticide residue appeared in court in Fuyang city. ...

China: 137 official deaths from food poisoning in 2011 N-120203-02 According to the Ministry of Health, as reported on February 3, more than 8,324 Chinese suffered food poisoning in 2011, and 137 of them died. ...

Finland: Neste Oil “halved work-related accidents in 2011” N-120203-03 Neste Oil Corporation. According to a press release, Neste Oil's safety performance in 2011 was the best in the company's history. Neste Oil's Total Recordable Injury Frequency (TRIF) per million hours worked was 2.3 in 2011, a reduction of more than 50% compared to 2010, when the metric reached 4.7. In 2010, the average injury frequency rate for European oil refining companies was 5.0, and the frequency of injuries resulting in absences from work for the Finnish chemical industry was 10.8. Neste Oil recorded a total of 33 work-related accidents during 2011, compared to 72 in 2010. The TRIF includes all work-related injuries requiring medical attention and covers the work done for the company by the company's own employees and those of its contractors.

Neste Oil invested a total of €25.9 million in enhancing safety during 2011, with a particular focus on improving process, personnel, and fire safety. A total of 35,000 hours were spent on preventive safety work, such as safety training, across the Group in 2011. More than 25,000 safety observation tours to identify and eliminate safety risks were carried out at the company's sites, and over 2,500 safety discussions were held to encourage the adoption of safer working practices. Neste Oil expects to invest over €60 million in safety during 2012.

President & CEO Matti Lievonen said: "I am very proud of our safety performance last year. We have put in a lot of systematic and target-oriented work over the years to improve our safety. We are now approaching the leading European oil companies in terms of safety performance, which we consider to be our short-term goal. Preventive initiatives designed to identify safety risks in our operations and reduce them have played an important role in cutting the number of work-related accidents at Neste Oil, as has training aimed at improving people's safety skills. Perhaps most importantly of all, however, we have tried to learn from all our accidents and other safety incidents and apply the best practices that we have identified to prevent accidents occurring in the future."

India: PM at HPCL, Vizag N-120202-02 Andhra Pradesh, Visakhapatnam (Vizag). Hindustan Petroleum Corp. O January 31, a company source said Hindustan Petroleum plans to shut a 60,000 bpd crude unit and fluid catalytic cracker at its Vizag refinery for maintenance in April-May. The planned maintenance shutdown will continue for about 45 days. ...

Japan: PM at Nansei Sekiyu, Nishihara N-120201-01 Okinawa, Nishihara. Nansei Sekiyu KK. On January 31, Nansei Sekiyu, a wholly owned subsidiary of Brazilian state-run Petrobras , said it plans to shut its 100,000 barrels per day Nishihara refinery from April 2 to 28. ...

South Africa: Denel, two million hours “without accident” N-120131-01 Pretoria Metal Pressings (PMP), a subsidiary of the state-owned Denel Group. On January 30, it was claimed that PMP had achieved a Lost Time Injury Frequency Ratio (LTIFR) of 0.13, “placing the company in the top sphere of ‘safe’ companies”. ...

Switzerland: Munitions to remain underwater N-120203-04 On February 3, it was reported that Swiss army munitions dumped in lakes from the 1940s to the 1960s will not be retrieved, as a recovery operation would be more dangerous than leaving them in place. ...

Taiwan: PM at Formosa Petrochemical N-120202-01 Formosa Petrochemical Corp. On February 1, Formosa Petrochemical said it will shut one of its three crude units in mid-February for maintenance that is scheduled to last for 1-2 weeks. ...

USA: Yet another picric acid hoo-ha N-120202-03 WA, Orcas. A woman, described as “a frequent seller on eBay”, offered her late aunt’s 1930s first aid kit for sale on the website. ...

USA: OSHA delays flammable dust rules N-120203-01 There was widespread criticism in the USA after it became clear that OSHA did not intend to invoke any sense of urgency in formulating rules to control flammable dust hazards – despite urgent pleas from the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) to give them high priority.

Unlike in Europe and other technologically advanced countries, control of flammable dust hazards outside the mining industry has never been of much interest to US regulators, industrialists, or unions until the CSB began to draw attention to the problem following the January 29, 2003, polymer dust explosion at West Pharmaceutical in Kinston, North Carolina. CSB has continued to campaign for greater awareness and more effective regulation of flammable dust hazards up to and including the 2011 series of incidents at Hoeganaes Corp., a plant near Nashville, where five people died in explosions involving combustible iron powder.

The Chemical Safety Board has been studying the hazards of combustible dust since a series of deadly fires and explosions in 2003. The rest of the world – especially UK and Germany – have been studying them since the early nineteenth century. This is not a criticism of the CSB, which has no regulatory powers; rather it raises the question: “What has OSHA been doing all these years?”

The last words belong to Rafael Moure-Eraso, chairman of the Chemical Safety Board: "We really don't know why OSHA is doing this. We do know that workers keep dying."

USA: Humanitarian threat from "Dangerous Depots" N-120203-05 According to a new State Department report “Dangerous Depots: The Growing Humanitarian Problem Posed by Aging and Poorly Maintained Munitions Storage Sites”, accidental explosions at arms storage facilities in Cyprus, Russia, Turkmenistan, and elsewhere have highlighted significant potential risks to surrounding communities from poorly maintained, improperly stored, or inadequately guarded conventional weapons and munitions. ...

Venezuela: Fuel reserves “running low” N-120201-02 Inventories of fuel at the Paraguana refinery complex – affected by frequent power failures which led to declining production over the last three months – were reported at 75% capacity, which means there must be about 10 days of fuel in store.