Respondent is a corporation authorized to do business in the State of Texas. Respondent owns and operates a chemical building, manufacturing, and packaging facility. Respondent receives bulk raw chemicals, including liquid sodium chlorite, delivered in tanker, railcar, and packaged containers. Respondent uses these raw ingredients to produce finished products. Liquid sodium chlorite is an extremely hazardous substance. It is a corrosive chemical, which can cause severe burns and eye damage. It is also a toxic substance and may be fatal to those who inhale or swallow the substance. Sodium chlorite is a highly reactive substance and will react violently to a variety of other substances.
On Monday, January 26, 2015, workers employed by Respondent were unloading Sodium chlorite from a tanker truck into totes. Usually sodium chlorite was unloaded directly from a tanker truck to a receiving tank; however, at this time the tank, which usually held sodium chlorite at the facility, was undergoing maintenance. Respondent did not have a system or other means of ensuring that the totes used to hold sodium chlorite were free of other materials or substanccs that would react with the sodium chlorite. Workers had completed filling 13 totes of liquid sodium chlorite from the tanker truck. While using a forklift to transport the filled totes to a storage location, an employee noticed that the pressure inside one of the totes had begun to increase – the tote was bulging. The employee inspected the tote and noticed that the tote lid was cracked. He replaced the cracked lid with a new lid, which he hand tightened before going to get a wrench to tighten the new lid completely. By the time he returned, the chemical reaction inside the tote had developed enough pressure to start to off-gas, releasing unknown chemical substances, including sodium chlorite, into the ambient air.
As a result of the release, the Respondent began an evacuation and alerted the local fire department.
The reaction inside the tote continued, building up enough pressure to rupture and split the tote. The Fire Department issued an evacuation order for a quarter- mile radius around the facility.
An owner/operator of a stationary source producing, processing, handling or storing substances listed pursuant to section 112(r)(3) of the CAA or any other extremely hazardous substance, has a general duty to:
- identify hazards which may result from accidental releases of such substances using appropriate hazard assessment techniques;
- design and maintain a safe facility, taking such steps as are necessary to prevent releases; and
- minimize the consequences of accidental releases that do occur.
The release of liquid sodium chlorite at the facility on January 26. 2015, constituted an “accidental release” as that term is defined by section 112(r)(2)(A) of the CAA. Respondent failed to identify chemical hazards at the facility by not ensuring that totes, used in the storage and transportation of sodium chlorite, were in good condition and free of potential contaminants before filling them with a highly reactive extremely hazardous substance.
Respondent’s failure constitutes a violation of the general duty clause in section 112(r)(1) of the CAA. EPA and Respondent agree that an appropriate penalty to settle this matter is $37,500.
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