The report said an abnormal flow of electricity occurred as a result of “improperly grounded equipment” in the roof area of the tank, a static discharge or ignition charge in the tank was the “most probable cause of ignition” in the October 15, 2019 incident. The tank’s roof was blown off & landed on a nearby tank, which in turn exploded within minutes of the first explosion. Each tank held 126,000 gallons of ethanol. “The electrical fault ignited an ethanol vapor air mixture in the headspace of tank 20107,” the report says. A component called a Varec device “was not properly grounded”.
As a result of this investigation, the following conclusions were determined: