CSB Probes Formosa Plant

CSB probes Formosa plant

The Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) says a team will return this week to a Formosa Plastics facility in Point Comfort, Texas, to continue an inquiry into an Oct. 6 explosion and fire that injured 13 workers. Most of the injuries were minor, but two workers were admitted to the burn unit at a Galveston hospital, and one remains hospitalized there. Formosa says the incident resulted from a leak in a pressurized propylene line that was struck by a forklift driven by a contract worker. The gas traveled along the ground until it reached an unidentified ignition source. “We intend to gather additional evidence before confirming this theory,” CSB lead investigator Jim Lay says. He says portions of the olefins unit where the incident was centered show extensive damage from heat. “The site shows relatively little blast damage, consistent with a series of unconfined, open-air explosions or deflagrations,” Lay says. The remainder of the Formosa complex, which has 13 units that cover 1,800 acres, was shut down as a precaution. On the basis of current evidence, CSB says investigators do not plan to recommend a full root-cause investigation of the incident.

EPA rule sets easier test on plant emissions

Refurbished power plants could increase their annual emissions without adding pollution controls, under a new proposal from the Bush Administration. The Clean Air Act proposal would establish a uniform, national emissions test for power plants when they modify their equipment. The proposed test would allow a facility to continue operating without modern pollution controls if technology upgrades do not change its maximum hourly emissions, despite any increase in annual emissions. Industry has promoted the hourly emissions test as it has fought EPA over new source review enforcement lawsuits in which the agency wants refurbished facilities to install modern pollution controls. The proposal would settle differences among federal courts about whether an hourly or annual test should apply to modified facilities. EPA says the proposal will eliminate regulatory barriers to projects that increase power-plant efficiency and reliability. Environmental groups say the proposal would dramatically weaken a key part of the Clean Air Act.

DOE funds research into gas and oil

The Department of Energy says it will provide $10.7 million to fund 13 research and development projects that focus on recovering large, “unconventional” gas and oil resources. The primary goal of the research is to increase recovery of natural gas found in coal seams; low-permeability, or “tight,” sandstones; and ultra-deep resources found more than 15,000 feet underground. DOE says these combined sources of natural gas are estimated to be approximately 700 trillion cu ft, compared with an industry estimate of 190 trillion cu ft in conventional reserves. Unconventional natural gas now accounts for nearly one-quarter of total domestic supply. Six of the projects aim to improve the efficiency of drilling, appraising, and producing low-permeability formations by collecting, analyzing, and publicizing a variety of critical data. DOE says this approach will enable operators to generate less waste and extract more gas from fewer wells. DOE is also researching the environments encountered while drilling ultra-deep gas wells. Three projects will focus on “smart” drilling systems that will withstand the extreme temperatures, pressures, and corrosive conditions of deep reservoirs. Two other projects will try to improve drilling techniques to lessen environmental impact and lower costs.

GAO reports on science, math programs

The total number of students, graduates, and employees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is increasing, according to a GAO report (GOA-06–114) on STEM programs and related trends. For example, the number of students studying STEM fields rose 21% from the 1995–96 academic year to the 2003–04 academic year, compared with an 11% increase in non-STEM students during the same period. The number of STEM graduates rose by 8% from 1994–95 to 2002–03. Employment in STEM fields has grown, climbing 23% from 1994 to 2003. The report looked at 207 STEM education programs sponsored by 13 federal agencies that spent a total of $2.8 billion during fiscal 2004. The report notes that evaluations for about half of the programs were completed or under way, and results showed programs as effective and as having met their goals. Some of the programs, which have been ongoing for several years, have not been evaluated, however. A complete evaluation of federal programs is important before moving forward to ensure that the best use is made of federal resources, the report finds.

Government & Policy Roundup

White House regulatory “czar” John D. Graham will leave the White House Office of Management & Budget in early 2006. Graham, administrator of OMB's Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs since 2001, will become dean of RAND Corp.'s Frederick S. Pardee RAND Graduate School on March 1, 2006.

The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee voted 13 to 9 last week to open the 1.5 million-acre coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil and natural gas leasing. The measure, which would raise an estimated $2.4 billion in annual revenue, will be folded into a broad deficit reduction bill that the Senate Budget Committee plans to vote on this week and then send to the Senate floor.

DuPont and Fluor Corp. say they plan to jointly bid on a five-year contract worth approximately $7.5 billion to operate the Energy Department's Savannah River Site after the government's contract with Westinghouse expires in October 2006. In the midst of the Cold War, DuPont constructed and managed the South Carolina nuclear weapons complex for 39 years before it chose to end its involvement in national defense.