Photo: Chemical Safety Board
Washington — A recently released Chemical Safety Board video highlights how flammable gas detection systems can help prevent serious incidents by warning operators about unintentional releases.
In the video, CSB investigator Crystal Thomas explores the events that resulted in a 2019 fire at the Intercontinental Terminals Co. in Deer Park, TX. The blaze burned for three days, destroying more than a dozen 80,000-gallon tanks of flammable petrochemical liquids and causing more than $150,000 in property damage.
CSB’s final report on the incident concludes that a circulation pump on one of the tanks catastrophically failed, which allowed a flammable liquid blend to escape. The release accumulated on the ground unnoticed for about 30 minutes before flammable vapors around the tank ignited, sparking the fire.
Thomas says flammable gas detection systems create warnings for operators “so that actions can be taken before a major fire or explosion occurs.” The agency recommends installing the systems “in areas around pumps, seals, flanges and other common leak locations” and making sure they’re “adequately designed, maintained, inspected and tested.”
The video also looks at OSHA’s standard on process safety management of highly hazardous chemicals (1910.119) and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Risk Management Program rule – and calls for expanded regulatory oversight.
“The incident at the ITC terminal resulted from several serious failures at the facility,” CSB Chair Steve Owens says in the video. “In particular, ITC lacked monitors to alert operators that the pump had failed. And ITC had no remotely operated emergency isolation valves that could have safely stopped the release of the flammable liquid. The tank farm’s design also meant that other tanks were highly vulnerable. Once the pump failed, it was too late to prevent a catastrophic fire from happening.”
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Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication