MEC&F Expert Engineers : 10/07/14

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

CAUSE AND ORIGIN INVESTIGATIONS: DERAILINGS AND RAIL TANK CAR FAILURES

CAUSE AND ORIGIN INVESTIGATIONS: DERAILINGS AND RAIL TANK CAR FAILURES




Figure 1.  Train derailment in Lynchburg, Virginia in April 2014 that spilled up to 25,000 gallons of crude oil into the James River.



The rapid expansion of petroleum crude oil transported by rail and a series of incidents across the United States and Canada over the past 24 months including derailments, spills, explosions, fires, property damage, environmental damage, and loss of life have raised safety concerns regarding these trains.  There has been a high incidence of tank car failure, especially the DOT-111 tank car.

In 2005, approximately 6,000 rail carloads of crude oil originated in the U.S.  This increased to 400,000 carloads in 2013.  Railroads own less than 1 percent of the tank car fleet; more than 99 percent are owned by shippers, leasing companies, and other non-railroad entities.

Currently, there are about 228,000 of DOT-111 tank cars.  The maximum service life of a tank car is 50 years.  The economic life is between 30 and 40 years.  About 27,000 of them are used for crude oil haz mat service.  Approximately 30,000 DOT-111 cars are used to transport denatured fuel ethanol, also a hazardous material.  By the end of 2015, there will be approximately 190,000 DOT-111 tank cars in hazmat service.  Approximately 55,000 CPC-1232 tank cars (the latest design by the railroad industry) will be in service by end of 2015.


Crude Oil and Ethanol Accidents

There have been 18 significant accidents since 2006.  Of them, 11 were for crude oil and 7 were for ethanol.  There have been a number of derailments involving the release of frac sand, but they are not included in the 18 accidents.  The damage statistics about the 18 accidents are provided below:

• 48 fatalities;

• 281 DOT-111 tank cars derailed;

• 2.8 million gallons crude oil released;

• 2.0 million gallons ethanol released;

• Fires and environmental damage;



The More Important Safety Issues Include:
  • DOT-111 tank car crashworthiness;
    • Puncture resistance;
    • Thermal resistance;
    • Fittings protection;
  • Railroad operations;
  • Route planning and route selection;
  • Hazardous materials classification;
  • Emergency response;
  • Planning;
  • Response capability;
  • Awareness and training;


During derailments we observed that some of the bottom outlet valves opened and released hazardous chemicals.  Apparently, the handles of the valves became caught by objects and debris and caused the valves to open.  The valve handles are supposed to remain closed during transit and break free in an accident; however, the handles did not break because they were too robust.  The handles could be located above the skid structure.



Figure 2.  The handle of the valve did not break upon impact and it caused the valve to open, releasing chemicals.



Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Transportation released its new proposal for oil-by-rail safety rules.  This was long-awaited news, especially after the crude oil train derailment in Lynchburg, Virginia, last April that spilled up to 25,000 gallons into the James River.



Figure 3.  Fire after the train derailment in Lynchburg, Virginia in April 2014 that spilled up to 25,000 gallons of crude oil into the James River.



People who are interested in trains not exploding have been lobbying for stronger train cars that are designed to carry flammable liquids.  There was no thermal protection on the existing cars, no tank jacket and insufficient relief capacity.  The DOT-111 housings are not effective in preventing impact damage.

After the accident in Cherry Valley, Illinois, in 2009, the investigators identified the following design deficiencies:

  • Housings for protection of DOT-111 top fittings are inadequate to withstand the forces of a derailment;
  • Need better tank head and shell puncture resistance systems and increased materials thickness





Figure 4.  Derailed cars in Illinois, in 2009



As a result of these findings, after October 1, 2011, the new DOT-111 tank cars for ethanol and crude oil service have:

  • Increased head and shell thickness;
  • Normalized steel;
  • ½-inch thick head shield;
  • Top fitting protection;
  • Better design of the handles of the bottom valves.



These federal requirements did does not address the existing fleet and it is impediment to retrofitting or phase out.  Most of the existing DOT-111 tank cars have a long service life; safety benefits are not realized if old and new tank cars are commingled

The focus of the federal authorities has been on getting the hazardous material in a safer tank car because even at low speeds, you can have a derailment.  And the best defense is having the car hold up in a derailment.



Causes of the Derailments

Based on the investigations performed after the hazardous material accidents, the most common cause of the train derailment was a broken rail.  This points to a lack of proper inspection and maintenance of the railroad lines.  Other causes of derailment were:

        Track buckling;

        Washout of the rail;

        Broken joint bar;

        Collision/fouled train with broken axle;

        Securement of the train/attendance

Overall, the federal safety board has blamed the accidents to the bad maintenance and lack of proper inspection of the railroad lines by the railroad companies.



The Lac-Megantic Derailment and Subsequent Disaster

The most tragic accident occurred last year in Canada.  An unmanned train, whose 74 cars were carrying 2 million gallons of crude oil, barreled into the downtown and exploded in a massive ball of flames, incinerating everything within a large radius.  According to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, at about 10:50 p.m. on July 5, 2013, a Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway locomotive engineer parked a train on a descending trade on the main track in Nantes, Quebec.  He applied the hand brakes on all five locomotives, plus two other cars, and shut down all but the lead locomotive.  That night (during a mandatory test to ensure the hand brakes would hold), the locomotive air brakes were left on during the test, meaning the train was being held by a combination of hand brakes and air brakes, and giving a false impression that the hand brakes alone would hold the train.  When a fire began in the engine of the lead locomotive, in keeping with railway instructions, emergency responders shut off the engine, which subsequently caused the air holding the locomotive air brakes to leak off.  Without enough force from the hand brakes, the train began rolling downhill toward Lac-Megantic, just over seven miles away. 

The Lac-Mégantic derailment was among the most disastrous in modern North America. Forty-seven people died, some 40 buildings were destroyed and 53 vehicles were demolished when the 63 tank cars and two boxcars derailed and erupted in flames. About 2,000 residents of the community were evacuated.




Figure 5.  Burning of the Oil in Lac-Megantic, Canada in July 2013


Canada's transportation safety agency Tuesday said inadequate Canadian government oversight and a railway company's "weak safety culture" were among a host of factors that led to last year's devastating oil-train derailment in Quebec.  The TSB called for more thorough audits of safety management systems and said more physical defenses, such as wheel chocks or modern braking technology, are needed to prevent runaway trains.




Figure 6.  Puncture of a typical DOT-111 tank car



Insurers are concerned
Although the railroads have the second best safety record after the airlines, this fast expansion of the crude oil transportation via rail has come some astounding risks — risks that have insurance companies and underwriters increasingly concerned.
A string of oil train explosions have highlighted the potential for harm. A train hauling 2.9 million gallons of Bakken oil derailed and exploded on November 8 in Aliceville, Alabama, and the oil that leaked but did not burn continues to foul the wetlands in the area.



Figure 7.  Derailed train cars smoldering in West Alabama



Energy companies that ship oil and ethanol largely do not bear any liability for an incident once their product is loaded onto a train.  And under “common carrier” regulations, railroads cannot refuse a shipment any kind of material assuming it meets proper regulations.
On January 2nd, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a rare safety alert, saying “recent derailments and resulting fires indicate that the type of crude oil being transported from the Bakken region may be more flammable than traditional heavy crude oil.”  The API is disputing this assessment.  A few weeks later, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and its Canadian counterpart, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada warned that an oil train accident could result in a “major loss of life” as they called for hazardous material shipping rules to apply to crude oil trains.  These large-scale shipments of crude oil by rail simply didn’t exist 10 years ago, and our safety regulations need to catch up with this new reality.
The US DOT has also recently said that the rail insurance maybe inadequate for crude oil shipments.  The maximum amount of coverage available is $1 billion per carrier, per incident.


UPDATE-10-07-2014
Canadian National Railway Co. Train Derailed on October 7, 2014



A Canadian National Railway Co. train carrying hazardous materials derailed near Wadena, Saskatchewan this morning, bursting into possibly toxic flames.  A spokesperson for Canadian National says 26 of the 100 cars the train was hauling derailed. Six of them contained hazardous materials. Four cars contained either hydrochloric acid or caustic soda, and the other two had petroleum distillates, Canadian National told the press. Because of the threat of toxic smoke, officials are keeping people about 5 miles away from the scene. About 50 people were evacuated from the town of Clair, located about half a mile from the crash




Last month, we wrote about the serious risks posed by derailing and rail car failures, and the safety issues associated with the older DOT-111 tank cars.  Here is the link to our original blog:



One Month Ago Environmental Groups Filed Lawsuits against DOT, Demanding Safer Rail Cars Now
Shale crude producers and midstream transportation companies already experience transportation woes related to inadequate pipeline infrastructure, railroad capacity, tank car supply, rail accidents, and new safety regulations.  Older rail cars designated DOT-111 carrying crude oil have been involved in a series of disastrous derailments, including the deadly incident in Lac-Megantic, Quebec in 2013 that killed 47 people.

In September, the Sierra Club, one of the largest environmental organizations in the United States, filed two lawsuits challenging different aspects of crude-by-rail transportation.  First, on the national level, the Sierra Club seeks to stop the transportation of crude oil in allegedly outdated and unsafe tank cars. And second, at the state level, the Sierra Club accuses a local agency of illegally permitting a rail-to-truck facility.

The first lawsuit challenges the continued use of older DOT-111 tank cars.  The environmental groups believe that waiting six years to take cars off the line is too long.  On July 15, 2014, the Sierra Club, ForestEthics, and EarthJustice, petitioned the United States Department of Transportation (DOT), asking for an “emergency order prohibiting the shipment of Bakken crude oil in unsafe tank cars”.   The petitioners allege that shipping crude oil in these unsafe “legacy DOT-111” tank cars poses an “imminent hazard” requiring the immediate cessation of their use.  Roughly a month after receiving the Rail Car Petition, the DOT, through the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration, issued a proposed rule that addresses many of these concerns.

“The Department of Transportation is gravely underestimating the risk of these cars,” said Patti Goldman, an attorney for Earthjustice. “More oil spilled in rail accidents in 2013 than the previous 37 years combined.”

While more oil spilled in rail accidents in 2013 than ever before, the rail industry still said that more than 99 percent of hazardous materials shipped by rail arrived at its destination without incident. The figure shows just how dramatic the rise in oil-by-rail has been in recent years. In 2008, Class 1 railroads, which include the largest rail companies in America, transported just 9,500 carloads of crude oil. Five years later, in 2013, they were projected to move more than 400,000 carloads.

Although the proposed rule addresses many of the DOT-111 safety concerns, the petitioners believe the rulemaking process will take too long.  On September 11, 2014, the environmental groups filed suit in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  The petitioners ask the court to order the DOT to respond to the Rail Car Petition.   As its legal basis, the environmental groups argue that under the Administrative Procedure Act the DOT has taken an unreasonable amount of time to respond to the Rail Car Petition.  The Ninth Circuit denied the petitioners’ request for an expedited decision and ordered the DOT to respond.  The court specifically directed the DOT to propose a timeline for its response to the Rail Car Petition.   According to the briefing schedule, the Ninth Circuit’s ruling will likely come in early 2015.





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LACK OF PROTECTION FOR COMMUNITIES AT RISK FROM AMMONIUM NITRATE STORAGE FACILITIES.

LACK OF PROTECTION FOR COMMUNITIES AT RISK FROM AMMONIUM NITRATE STORAGE FACILITIES.

EXPLOSION AT THE WEST FERTILIZER PLANT IN TEXAS
On April 17, 2013, an explosion and fire in the West Fertilizer facility in West, Texas, resulted in at least 14 fatalities, 226 injuries, and widespread community damage.  Large quantities of ammonium nitrate (AN) fertilizer exploded after being heated by a fire at the storage and distribution facility.  The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) stated few months ago that the fire and explosion was preventable.  It should never have occurred.  It resulted from the failure of a company to take the necessary steps to avert a preventable fire and explosion and from the inability of federal, state and local regulatory agencies to identify a serious hazard and correct it.

Cause and Origin Investigation of the Deadly explosion at the West Fertilizer Plant in Texas

 

At around 7:30 p.m. on April 17, 2013, emergency dispatchers received reports of smoke and flames at the West Fertilizer Company’s storage and distribution center in the town of West, Texas (population 2,800), located on Interstate 35 just up the road from Waco.  Firefighters from the town’s volunteer fire department rushed to the scene, where the fire seemed to be quickly intensifying.  Neighbors who lived nearby, including many residents of the West Rest Haven Nursing Home, located just 200 yards (183 meters) from the West Fertilizer facility, gazed at the fiery spectacle.  The nursing home was close enough to the billowing smoke that the facility’s staff began moving residents to more protected areas inside the building to avoid the hazard.
A crew of 22 emergency responders arrived at the site and, assisted by two West residents, attempted to douse the flames. The fire was large and getting bigger, and it was in the process of engulfing a wooden warehouse. The structure was comprised of wood-framed bins with wooden walls and contained approximately 60 tons of fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate, a granular solid that can detonate in certain conditions when it interacts with fire. Built in 1961, the building lacked automatic sprinklers or suppression features and was not required to install them, since Texas lacks a state fire code.  There were no state regulations guiding appropriate storage amounts of the fertilizer.  The facility was unattended at the time of the fire.
View of the fire just a second prior to the explosion

About 20 minutes after the fire was reported, the ammonium nitrate detonated, producing an enormous explosion that pulverized much of the West Fertilizer site and sent chunks of concrete, wood, and steel hurtling into the surrounding neighborhoods. The explosion’s shockwave rocked the entire town.

View of the moment of the explosion

The blast was heard 80 miles away and registered a magnitude 2.1 tremor that was recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey. At the West Rest Haven Nursing Home, the windows shattered and the roof collapsed, trapping scores of elderly residents beneath the rubble. Across the street from the nursing home, the West Terrace apartment complex was shredded by the explosion. A half-mile from the blast site, the West Middle School suffered major damage, as did the West Intermediate School. Nearly 200 homes were damaged or destroyed.

The blast from the explosion

The explosion killed 15 people: 10 firefighters, ranging in age from 26 to 52; their two civilian helpers; two residents from the West Terrace apartment complex; and a nursing home resident. About 200 people were injured. Many of the impacted structures — including the two schools, the nursing home, and the apartment complex — have since been demolished. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), which has released preliminary findings on the incident and is working on a final report, estimates that total damages could exceed $230 million. The cause of the fire has not been determined; in its preliminary findings, the CSB said that “the explosion resulted from an intense fire … that led to the detonation of” the stored ammonium nitrate.

Residences destroyed by the blast

West prompted an executive order by President Barack Obama directing the federal government to improve safety and security at chemical facilities, and the Department of Homeland Security has sought the assistance of NFPA as part of its efforts to carry out that order. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also answered calls to action from the president and CSB by taking part in a working group, including the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), that is addressing chemical facility safety.
The activity is timely and necessary, since the potential for another disaster extends far beyond West, Texas. The USEPA estimates that 13,000 facilities similar to West Fertilizer pose threats to communities throughout the U.S.

Preliminary Findings of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board from its Investigation of the West Fertilizer Explosion and Fire.  CSB Says the Disaster Should Never had happened
The CSB has made the following observations and preliminary findings to date, which are subject to further revision and development as the investigation unfolds:
1)            The explosion at West Fertilizer resulted from an intense fire in a wooden warehouse building that led to the detonation of approximately 30 tons of Ammonium Nitrate (AN) stored inside in wooden bins. Not only were the warehouse and bins combustible, but the building also contained significant amounts of combustible seeds, which likely contributed to the intensity of the fire. According to available seismic data, the explosion was a very powerful event.
2)            Whether additional factors such as material characteristics, shock, or contamination contributed to the incident remains to be determined. Company employees described a PVC plastic pipe that was located directly above the AN bin that detonated, and likely would have been melted by the fire. Additionally, large amounts of potentially flammable anhydrous ammonia were stored along the southern edge of the warehouse building.
3)            The building lacked a sprinkler system or other systems to automatically detect or suppress fire, especially when the building was unoccupied after hours. By the time firefighters were able to reach the site, the fire was intense and out of control. Just 20 minutes after the first notification to the West Volunteer Fire Department, the detonation occurred.
4)            Both National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the International Code Council (ICC), private organizations that develop fire codes that are widely applied across the U.S., have written code provisions for the safety of ammonium nitrate. Many of these safety provisions are quite old[1] and appear to be confusing or contradictory, even to code experts, and are in need of a comprehensive review in light of the West disaster and other recent accidents. For example the ICC’s International Fire Code directs users to a defunct code for ammonium nitrate (NFPA 490, last issued in 2002) rather than the current code, known as NFPA 400.
5)           The existing fire codes do contain some useful provisions; for example the codes do require a fire resistant barrier between AN and any stored flammable or combustible materials and have provisions to avoid AN confinement and promote ventilation during fire conditions. However, even the most current NFPA 400 standard allows AN to be stored in wooden buildings and in wooden bins, and does not mandate automatic sprinkler systems unless more than 2500 tons of AN is being stored – vastly more than the approximately 30 tons that was sufficient to devastate much of the town of West.  In addition, the standard contains a “grandfathering” provision that allows existing buildings that were constructed prior to code adoption – and fail to meet all of its provisions – to continue in use.
6)            Texas has not adopted a statewide fire code, and state law actually prohibits most smaller rural counties from adopting a fire code. McLennan County, where the West facility was located, had not adopted a fire code, although it technically had the authority to do so because of its proximity to the more populous Bell County. The West Fertilizer facility was thus not required to follow any NFPA or ICC recommendations for the storage of AN.
7)            Although some U.S. distributors have constructed fire-resistant concrete structures for storing AN, fertilizer industry officials have reported to the CSB that wooden buildings are still the norm for the distribution of AN fertilizer across the U.S.
8)            Industry has developed other forms of ammonium nitrate that are reported to reduce or eliminate the risk of accidental detonation. For example, compounding the ammonium nitrate with calcium carbonate (limestone) “practically eliminates any risk of explosion in its storage, transportation, and handling,” while preserving the AN’s nutritive value.[2]  Calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizers have been widely used in Europe.  Ammonium sulfate nitrate also has been found to be non-explosive provided the percentage of AN is held below about 37%.[3]
9)            The federal OSHA standard for “Explosives and Blasting Agents” (29 CFR 1910.109) does have requirements for ammonium nitrate fertilizer; its provisions are similar to the NFPA codes. Unlike the NFPA codes – which West was not legally required to follow under any fire code – the OSHA standard would have applied.  Like NFPA, however, the OSHA standard does not prohibit wooden bins or wooden construction, and does not require sprinklers unless more than 2500 tons of AN is present. However, OSHA public records indicate that OSHA last inspected the facility in 1985, and no citations were issued under the “Explosives and Blasting Agents” standard.
10)         OSHA’s Process Safety Management standard (29 CFR 1910.119) or PSM was adopted in 1992 and is designed to prevent catastrophic workplace incidents involving highly hazardous chemicals. PSM requires companies to have a variety of management elements to prevent catastrophic incidents, such as conducting hazard analyses and developing emergency plans. Ammonium nitrate is not, however, one of the listed chemicals that triggers PSM coverage. The PSM standard also contains an exemption for retail facilities.
11)         The EPA’s Risk Management Program rule (40 CFR Part 68) or RMP was adopted in 1996 and is designed to prevent catastrophic offsite and environmental damage from extremely hazardous substances. As the name suggests, the rule requires covered facilities to develop a Risk Management Plan, implement various safety programs, and analyze offsite consequences from potential accidents. Once again, however, ammonium nitrate is not one of the listed chemicals that triggers RMP coverage. West Fertilizer was RMP-covered due to its stored ammonia, and the company’s offsite consequence analysis considered only the possibility of an ammonia leak, not an explosion of ammonium nitrate.
12)         OSHA considered adding ammonium nitrate along with other highly reactive chemicals to its list of PSM-covered substances in the late 1990’s. However, this proposal was shelved in 2001. In developing the RMP regulation, the EPA did not explicitly include explosives or reactive chemicals in the list of covered chemicals. In 2002, the CSB issued a study on reactive hazards, identifying 167 prior reactive incidents (including a 1994 explosion at an ammonium nitrate manufacturer). The Board recommended that both OSHA and EPA expand their standards to include reactive chemicals and hazards.  However, neither agency has yet acted upon the recommendations.
13)         No federal, state, or local standards have been identified that restrict the siting of ammonium nitrate storage facilities in the vicinity of homes, schools, businesses, and health care facilities. In West, Texas, there were hundreds of such buildings within a mile radius, which were exposed to serious or life-threatening hazards when the explosion occurred on April 17.
14)         West volunteer firefighters were not made aware of the explosion hazard from the AN stored at West Fertilizer, and were caught in harm’s way when the blast occurred.  NFPA recommends that firefighters evacuate from AN fires of “massive and uncontrollable proportions.” Federal DOT guidance contained in the Emergency Response Guidebook, which is widely used by firefighters, suggests fighting even large ammonium nitrate fertilizer fires by “flood[ing] the area with water from a distance.” However, the response guidance appears to be vague since terms such as “massive,” “uncontrollable,” “large,” and “distance” are not clearly defined. All of these provisions should be reviewed and harmonized in light of the West disaster to ensure that firefighters are adequately protected and are not put into danger protecting property alone.
15)         While U.S. standards for ammonium nitrate have apparently remained static for decades, other countries have more rigorous standards covering both storage and siting of nearby buildings. For example, the U.K.’s Health and Safety Executive states in guidance dating to 1996 that “ammonium nitrate should normally be stored in single story, dedicated, well-ventilated buildings that are constructed from materials that will not burn, such as concrete, bricks or steel.”[4] The U.K. guidance calls for storage bays “constructed of a material that does not burn, preferably concrete.”
16)         CF Industries, a principal manufacturer of AN that was one of the suppliers to West, also recommends more rigorous safeguards in its Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the chemical. In the section entitled “Handling and Storage,” CF recommends that “Storage construction should be of non-combustible materials and preferably equipped with an automatic sprinkler system.”[5]  Although companies are required to issue MSDS’s, the recipients of this information like West Fertilizer are not obligated to follow the recommended safety precautions. West lacked these safeguards.
17)         The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has regulations for ammonium nitrate used as an explosive but these do not apply to ammonium nitrate used as fertilizer. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has reporting requirements for companies that have a threshold amount of fertilizer grade ammonium nitrate. However, the authority of DHS is to require security measures to protect against theft, diversion, or other intentional acts; DHS does not regulate the safety of ammonium nitrate to prevent conditions leading to accidental detonation.
18)        The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA) contains an exemption from hazardous chemical reporting for “fertilizer held for sale by a retailer to the ultimate customer.” The EPA has interpreted this provision as not applying to firms, like West, that make custom blends of bulk fertilizer for customers’ use. In 2012, West Fertilizer filed an EPCRA Tier II report with the McLennan County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). West reported the presence of up to 270 tons of ammonium nitrate, as well as anhydrous ammonia, at the site. The company did not provide the LEPC or the West Fire Department with an ammonium nitrate MSDS indicating the material’s hazards, nor does EPCRA automatically require that information to be provided. There is no indication that West’s filing with local authorities resulted in an effort to plan for an ammonium nitrate emergency.
The EPA says it has responded to the executive order by taking part in a Chemical Facility Safety and Security Working Group comprised of representatives from the EPA, Department of Homeland Security, OSHA, and other sectors. The group recently released a preliminary list for improving chemical safety and security options that is now out for public comment. The options specifically consider the improvement of risk management practices at chemical facilities as well as the storage and handling of ammonium nitrate.
“We have engaged industry to identify hazards and are looking at their existing programs and activities to see how they can be advanced,” the EPA said in a statement to NFPA Journal.
“We have also heard from local emergency responders. They have important needs such as preparedness, capacity preparedness, and ready access to critical information that needs to be addressed.”
West Fertilizer after the explosion

Similar Chemical Explosions


The ammonium nitrate is known to be an explosive material, and we got a taste of its explosiveness in 1947 in Texas City.  The Texas City disaster was an industrial accident that occurred April 16, 1947 in the Port of Texas City. It was the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history, and one of the largest non-nuclear explosions. Originating with a mid-morning fire on board the French-registered vessel SS Grandcamp (docked in the port), its cargo of approximately 2,300 tons (approximately 2,100 metric tons) of ammonium nitrate detonated, with the initial blast and subsequent chain-reaction of further fires and explosions in other ships and nearby oil-storage facilities killing at least 581 people, including all but one member of the Texas City fire department. The disaster triggered the first ever class action lawsuit against the United States government, under the then-recently enacted Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), on behalf of 8,485 victims.

Other chemical plant explosions in recent years include:

·         T2 Laboratories explosion in Jacksonville, Florida in December 19, 2007.  See http://www.csb.gov/assets/1/19/T2_Final_Copy_9_17_09.pdf

 ·         Sythron Chemical Facility Explosion, North Carolina January 31, 2006.  See http://www.csb.gov/assets/1/19/Synthron_Final_Report1.pdf

 ·         MFG Chemical Inc. Toxic Gas Release, in Dalton, Georgia, August 12, 2004.  See http://www.csb.gov/assets/1/19/MFG_Report.pdf





The Role of Insurers

We recommended many years ago that the safety and reporting rules are expanded to include reactive chemicals and hazards;  but nothing ever happened – then the West Texas disaster hits us.  With the proposed construction of several new fertilizer plants across the United States, we believe that safety rules are urgently needed.

The insurers can play a key role in helping preventing similar disasters.  According to Allianz, the insurers took a $200 million hit as a result of the explosion.  Considering that there are 13,000 thousands of these plants across the United States and additional plants are being proposed to take advantage of the oil boom in the states, there is significant risk posed by fertilizer plant explosions.
In most developed countries, including the United States, insurance is one of the principal risk management instruments, not only for aiding in recovery after a disaster, but also for encouraging future investments that are more resilient to potential hazards.  We always had an issue with these “grandfathered” facilities, like the one at West, Texas that are not compliant with the NFPA code or other fire codes.  Compliance with the regulations does not always mean that it is safe or that it follows the modern or proper safety procedures.  How come not a single insurer realized the risk by this plant and the thousands of other plants across the United States?  The insurers can find a way of forcing them to install the appropriate safeties and controls to at least prevent the risk of explosions and the carnage to human life.


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Synthron facility after the explosion and fire

[1] NFPA 400 refers users to a 1953 publication by the U.S. Bureau of Mines for information on the explosive properties of AN.
[2] Calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) must still be protected from contamination with other chemicals that can re-sensitize it to detonation. See Popovici Ipochim, N.N.; Icechim, M.M.; “Other Ammonium Nitrate Fertilizers;” In Keleti, C. (ed.); Nitric Acid and Fertilizer Nitrates; New York: Marcel Dekker Inc., 1985.
[3] Ibid.
[4] U.K. Health and Safety Executive; “Storing and Handling Ammonium Nitrate;” Available from http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg230.pdf
[5] http://www.cfindustries.com/pdf/Ammonium-Nitrate-Amtrate-MSDS.pdf