Federal authorities say that a fatal 2008 accident at a Bayer CropScience chemical plant in West Virginia could have been prevented by stricter safety auditing, and have recommended a series of steps to avert future disasters.
The explosion killed two workers and injured another eight when a 4,000-gallon tank known as a residue treater exploded and, leaving a trail of flames behind it, slammed into a pesticide manufacturing unit.
In its final report on the incident, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board said that longstanding deficiencies plaguing the plant in the community of Institute, W.Va., contributed to the deadly blast. Many of the problems that made the explosion possible, such as faulty equipment that occupied the attention of personnel in the moments before the explosion, had been identified in previous inspections by authorities or the company, but had not been corrected.
Furthermore, the unit where the explosion occurred had just been reopened after a long maintenance period, despite the fact that vital pre-opening procedures–such as employee training and equipment checks — were not conducted.
“The deaths of the workers as a result of this accident were all the more tragic because it could have been prevented had Bayer CropScience provided adequate training, and required a comprehensive pre-start-up equipment checkout and strict conformance with appropriate start-up procedures,” Rafael Moure-Eraso, chairman of the safety board, told the Charleston Gazette.
Compounding the problem, emergency responders arrived within minutes, but there was a breakdown in communication between the company and the firefighters, with company officials refusing to divulge key information about the chemicals involved in the explosion.
“Proper communication between companies and emergency responders during an accident is critical,” said John Bresland, a former chemical plant manager who was chairman of the safety board at the time of the accident. “The community deserved better, especially considering the amounts of hazardous chemicals, in use and being stored at various chemical facilities” in the area.
To prevent future incidents, the report recommended the creation of a new chemical plant inspection program, to be jointly administered by state and local authorities.
