Report: Blast razed Crosby plant
An explosion that earlier this year rocked a Crosby chemical plant and obliterated an entranceway left one operator dead and more than 30 injured, including two who suffered severe burns, a new government report has found.
“Shrapnel,” is how one of the emergency responders described the building to investigators after the explosion. “There was nothing left of it. Wires, there was nothing there. There wasn’t a building there anymore.”
The April 2 fire was the third involving chemicals in the Houston area in as many weeks, starting with one at Exxon Mobil on March 16 and at the Intercontinental Terminals Co. the following day. While no injuries were reported, the Exxon Mobil facility in Baytown emitted large amounts of pollution days after the fire was out and it took days to put out the Deer Park ITC fire, sending a large plume of smoke visible for miles and at one point closing the Houston Ship Channel.
On the morning of the explosion, KMCO workers were making a batch of sulfurized isobutylene. The company produces coolant and brake fluid products for the auto industry and chemicals for the oil field industry and uses the highly flammable gas in liquid form.
Just before 10:46 a.m. an operator walking by the sulfurized isobutylene batch reactor described hearing a loud “pop” followed by a whooshing noise similar to an air hose coming off, according to investigators with the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.
The independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents on Tuesday released a preliminary report of its investigation of the fatal incident.
The operator could see a white cloud of vapor hovering near the ground with three to four feet of wavy hazy vapor above it, that looked “like a water mirage over hot pavement,” or “like if you’re filling up a gas tank and you see the fumes coming out,” he said. A supervisor described it as a “twofoot river” of isobutylene vapor “going all the way down the road.”
A three-inch y-shaped strainer made of a type of cast iron between two pipes had failed, the agency found.
At that time, an operator called out on the plant’s radio system: “Attention KMCO,” he said, “evacuate the reaction area.”
KMCO operators and supervisors then ordered a plant-wide evacuation, turned on fire water monitors, turned off equipment, instructed people using motorized equipment to shut it down and evacuate, and closed vehicle gates near the release to keep workers from driving in the vapor cloud, the report said.
But despite their efforts, the vapor cloud exploded — the moment captured by the shaking surveillance cameras. It was shortly before 10:50 a.m.
When KMCO did a headcount of those at the plant that day, it realized an operator was missing. Emergency responders found the man, later identified as James Earl “Bubba” Mangum, near the entrance of building in the plant that had been a control room. “At 12:07 p.m., medical responders evaluated the operator and did not try to resuscitate him,” the report reads.
Mangum died as a result of a cut to the inside of his right upper arm, the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences autopsy report concluded, possibly from a sharp object that went through his arm. Two others were severely burned and have since been released from the hospital.
On the day of the incident, more than 200 KMCO employees, contract workers and visitors were onsite. Seven of those injured were KMCO employees and 23 contractors. A five-hour shelter in place was issued for the community within one mile of the facility.
Investigators still don’t know what triggered the vapor cloud to ignite and cause the explosion, which will be part of the CSB’s final report, along with its recommendations.
Dan Tillema, the lead investigator, told the board that it was fairly common to see strainers to filter solid particles from a liquid stream, but he still needed to look at the company’s process safety management system to make sure it wasn’t a weakness.
“Since the first moments of the tragic incident that struck our facility on April 2, the team at KMCO, LLC has worked with emergency responders as well as state and federal agencies to secure the site, take care of our people and investigate the cause,” the company said Tuesday in a written statement. “We have cooperated fully with the Chemical Safety Board, U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and other authorities to aid their investigations over the past six months.”
The most impacted portions of the Crosby facility are still not in operation, the company said, and added that it is their priority to “ensure the safety and well-being of our employees, contractors and the community at every stage of our restart and ramp of operations.”
The KMCO incident has resulted in two rounds of layoffs, reducing the number of workers at the Crosby facility from more than 180 to less than 50. Harris County and the state are suing the company for the accident, and investigations from several local and federal agencies remain pending. Several contractors who alleged they were injured have also filed civil suits.