Chemical accident leads to call for tougher local regulations

The Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) urged the city of Houston to toughen its regulations of industrial pressure vessels. CSB 's recommendations are included in a report released last week concerning an accident investigation at Marcus Oil & Chemical Co. The board found that an improper weld on a pressure vessel holding flammable hydrocarbons led to an explosion and fire on the evening of Dec. 3, 2004. Although no plant personnel were injured, the accident hurt three firefighters putting out the blaze, which continued for seven hours. The explosion resulted from modifications to a malfunctioning 25-ton pressure vessel and inferior rewelding to close the vessel and put it back in service. The explosion threw the vessel 150 feet and shattered windows, upset buildings, and sent metal fragments a quarter mile from the factory. CSB noted that Texas has not adopted national safety standards for pressure vessels and urged Houston to regulate such vessels through its building codes, considering the concentration of chemically related companies in the area. The recommendations are similar to other recommendations made by the board, which has found that weak and improper government regulations have led to dangerous accidents.