By JUAN A. LOZANO
Better protection and fireproofing of equipment and automated valves to shut off chemical releases could have greatly reduced an explosion's impact last year at a South Texas plastics plant, the federal board that investigated the accident said Thursday.
October's explosion at the Formosa Plastics Corp. USA plant in Point Comfort injured 16 employees, one seriously, and sent flames more than 500 feet in the air. The fire burned for five days.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board said the accident happened at the Olefins 2 unit of the plant, which produces PVC and vinyl for floor and wall coverings, after a forklift towing a trailer pulled out a small drain valve.
That allowed liquid propylene to escape, forming a large vapor cloud that ignited. The initial explosion burned two men, one seriously, and 14 other workers sustained minor injuries while evacuating. The one seriously injured employee is back at work.
"This began with a seemingly minor event. But the incident had disastrous consequences because the facility was not better prepared for a large chemical release," said CSB Board Member John Bresland.
Rob Thibault, a spokesman for Formosa, said his company could not comment on details of the CSB's report because officials had not had a chance to fully review it.
"Formosa does have an excellent safety record across the company and particularly at the Point Comfort plant," he said. "Our safety record generally over the years has significantly outperformed the industry as a whole."
Five of the company's workers were killed in a blast at its plant in Illiopolis, Ill. in April 2004.
The Texas plant, Formosa's largest, employs 1,400 full-time workers and 400 contractors. It is located on the Gulf coast about 120 miles southwest of Houston.
CSB investigators said the valve struck by the trailer was vulnerable to being hit by vehicles.
Their report also said the propylene flow could have been stopped if the Olefins 2 unit had been equipped with valves that could be shut down remotely. The vapor cloud prevented workers from reaching manual valves.
Critical steel structures that supported relief valves and emergency piping to the unit's flare system, where the propylene could have been safely burned, were not fireproofed. This caused the support structure to collapse, rupturing pipes that added fuel to the fire, investigators said.
The CSB also found employees in the unit, which has large amounts of flammable liquids and gases, were not required to wear flame-resistant clothing.
"We found that improved design practices and protective clothing could have reduced the impact of this accident," said Robert Hall, CSB lead investigator.
The CSB, an independent federal agency that investigates industrial chemical accidents, issued several formal safety recommendations.
Formosa Plastics, based in Livingston, N.J., and part of Taiwan-based Formosa Plastics Corp., was urged to revise how it analyzes hazards at its facilities. The company was also asked to provide fire-resistant clothing to workers exposed to the dangers of flash fires.
"We're going to take a close look and review those recommendations and with an eye toward implementing the ones that we think will protect our people even more than we do now," Thibault said.
Kellogg Brown & Root, the Halliburton Co. subsidiary that designed the plant, was asked to update its blueprint to include the latest safety standards.
The Center for Chemical Process Safety, a leading safety group, was asked to strengthen its hazard evaluation guidelines to include vehicle impact threats and isolation of equipment during emergencies.
