CSB Seeks Advice On Safe Substitutes

The Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is seeking public input on the design of a congressionally mandated study on the use of methyl isocyanate (MIC) in chemical plants. Last year, Congress allocated $600,000 for a National Academy of Sciences study to examine alternatives available to protect workers and the public from a leak of MIC, the chemical released in 1984 in Bhopal, India, causing the death of thousands of residents. The funding followed an accident at the Bayer CropScience plant in West Virginia, which killed two workers and occurred within 80 feet of a 37,000-lb-capacity MIC storage tank. The study, according to the board, will determine the possibility of MIC reduction, substitution, or elimination at the Bayer plant, but it could also lay the groundwork for a better understanding of how chemical companies can adopt inherently safer technologies. The academy is now putting the review panel together. CSB is seeking comments on the panel’s makeup and the study design, as well as whether the board should request the academy to examine additional topics such as the use of hydrofluoric acid in refineries or chlorine in water treatment plants. Comments are due on May 10.