On Friday, February 3, 2023, at approximately 10:46 p.m., a flash fire was accidentally released from a product purge vessel (“vessel”) flange during planned maintenance activities. The fire seriously injured four (4) contract workers. On January 29, 2023, the facility shut down its polyethylene unit for planned maintenance. Following the shutdown procedure, operators purged and…...
Respondent operated a facility that utilizes chlorine for its aluminum smelting process for use primarily in the automotive and aerospace industries. On June 6, 2023, EPA performed an inspection ofthe Facility to evaluate compliance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act Section 103, Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act EPCRA Sections 304-312, and…...
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On September 22, 2022, at approximately 9:00 a.m., a liquid mixture comprised of aniline, formalin, and hydrochloric acid was accidentally released, seriously injuring one contractor at a chemical manufacturing facility in Geismar, Louisiana. On September 20, 2022, two days before the incident, an off-site power outage caused an immediate loss of process flow into the…...
On October 1, 2020, at approximately 9:00 a.m., approximately 554 pounds of chlorine gas were accidentally released. Exposure to the toxic chlorine vapors seriously injured one employee. At the time of the incident, four (4) workers (two unit employees and two contractors) were trying to stop a chlorine leak (described as a fugitive emission) from…...
At the time of the event, contract workers were disassembling a 2-inch flange to remove a blind (a solid metal plate used to isolate equipment) before reinstalling a section of piping that had been removed and cleaned. This type of equipment opening is commonly referred to as a “line opening” or “performing a line break.”…...
Scenario: Employees bring rechargeable lithium-ion batteries from home to the workplace for use in e-cigarettes, which are not used in any equipment or devices related to their work duties. You also state that, in this scenario, the battery terminals are unprotected and the employee or employees improperly carry these batteries in their pants pocket, a…...
In some processes, there is ALWAYS a need to “leak test” before returning a segment of piping to service. These “leak test” pressures are done at NORMAL Operating pressures using a calibrated solution such as SNOOP. And every once in a while, I get a question about doing a “leak test” at some really low…...
There are limitations on even the best “bubble solutions” used for “leak testing. My favorite is SNOOPS, and as I indicated in the title, even it has limitations. There are two (2) different types of SNOOPS:… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...
The old question… Do we need to pressure-test and leak-test our piping after we breach the pressure boundary? My response is always YES; however, the International Gas Code says something very different. Can we apply this approach to ASME B31.3 piping?… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a...
ATF investigators determined that the fire originated in the upper level of the engine room, portside aft. A paint locker was located in the area of origin, with various combustible materials stored both inside and outside the locker. Interviews with the vessel’s engineer revealed that a boot warmer had been plugged into an extension cord…...
1) Variation in human performance is normal and not causal…. Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...
