Federal agency investigates two Louisiana chemical plants after 2023 explosions
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The United States Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has started an investigation into chemical plants that released hazardous content after explosions.
According to the CSB, in 2023, the DOW Chemical Plant in Plaquemine and the Honeywell Chemical Plant in Geismar experienced explosions. Both explosions caused nearby highways to be closed and communities to remain “sheltered in place.”
The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board released a statement announcing the investigation.
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“Because we recently completely eliminated the CSB’s long-standing backlog of investigation reports, we now have the ability to address other serious chemical incidents reported to the agency under the Accidental Release Reporting Rule. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured or killed in either of these two events, but both involved the release of highly toxic chemicals — hydrogen fluoride and chlorine at the Honeywell facility and ethylene oxide at the Dow facility — that could have put workers and nearby residents at serious risk under different circumstances. We want to make sure that similar incidents do not happen again at these facilities.”
Steve Owens, CSB Chairperson
The Honeywell facility experienced a heat exchanger rupturing on Jan. 23, causing an explosion and releasing over 850 pounds of hydrogen fluoride and 1,700 pounds of chlorine. The estimated property damage to the facility is $4 million, according to the CSB.
According to the CSB’s accidental release report, the Honeywell plant in Geismar also experienced a fatal explosion in October 2021.
On July 14, 2023, an explosion was reported in the ethylene oxide pipe system in the glycol manufacturing unit at the Dow Chemical plant.
Following the Dow Chemical explosion, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality reported finding levels of ethylene oxide in a nearby water supply.
The CSB board suggests safety recommendations instead of issuing fines and citations.
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