CSB Reports On Georgia Accident

The U.S. Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) says that better process design, engineering, and hazard analysis would likely have prevented the 2004 runaway chemical reaction and vapor cloud release at MFG Chemical's plant in Dalton, Ga.

More than 200 families were forced to evacuate their homes, and 154 people had to be decontaminated and treated for chemical exposure at a local hospital after allyl alcohol and allyl chloride were released from a reactor at the MFG facility on April 12, 2004. CSB investigators found that the accident occurred when a runaway chemical reaction rapidly pressurized a 4,000-gal chemical reactor, activating an emergency vent and releasing allyl alcohol and allyl chloride directly into the atmosphere.

"MFG did not adequately plan for scaling up the reaction from the laboratory to full production volume or evaluate how much heat the reaction would produce," says CSB investigator John Vorderbrueggen. "The process controls, instrumentation, and safety systems were not designed to prevent a runaway reaction and uncontrolled chemical release. If MFG had followed the good engineering and safety practices described in federal regulations, this accident likely would not have occurred."