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Environment

CSB Urges Process Isolation

by Jeffrey W. Johnson
July 26, 2010 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 88, Issue 30

In a case study released last week, the Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board urged greater separation between potentially dangerous plant processes and other plant activities. The study examined a May 2009 fire and explosion at the Veolia ES Technical Solutions waste treatment facility in West Carrollton, Ohio. During a normal run of a tetrahydrofuran solvent recovery process, flammable vapor drifted from the recovery process to the company’s lab and operations building and was ignited; two workers were injured. Because of damage, CSB was unable to conclusively determine exactly what led to the explosion, but it urged that facilities handling flammable and explosive waste put maximum distances possible between process equipment and other plant activities. The lab was only 30 feet from the recovery process, the report says. The recommendations were made to the National Fire Protection Association, the Environmental Technology Council, and Veolia, which is rebuilding the plant.

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