Congressional report: Bayer blast 'could have eclipsed' Bhopal

[Staph]

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Kanawha Valley may have narrowly escaped a chemical plant catastrophe that could have surpassed the 1984 Bhopal disaster, according to a report released today by congressional investigators.

The August 2008 explosion at the Bayer CropScience Institute plant turned a 2 1/2-ton chemical vessel into a "dangerous projectile" that could have destroyed a nearby tank of deadly methyl isocyanate, according to the report by House Energy and Commerce Committee staff.

Committee investigators found this tank -- called a residue treater -- "rocketed 50 feet into the air, twisting steel beams, severing pipes, and destroying virtually everything in its path."

...

The report cited "serious questions" about "Bayer's handling of key evidence related to the explosion:

• Critical video footage of the explosion is missing because an unidentified contractor disabled the recording function from surveillance cameras inside the Larvin unit where the explosion occurred;
  
  
• Air monitors designed to detect MIC inside the Larvin unit were "out of service for maintenance repair" at the time of the explosion;
  
  
• A protective "blast mat" around the MIC tank was removed and destroyed after the explosion, foreclosing further analysis of damage caused by shrapnel and debris.

http://www.wvgazette.com/latest/200904210312

The associated memorandum from the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, is quite damning.

As part of its investigation, the Committee reviewed more than 200,000 pages of documents, as well as audio and video recordings, obtained from Bayer, the Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), the independent federal agency charged with investigating chemical accidents. Committee staff also inspected Bayer’s plant in West Virginia and interviewed more than 20 Bayer employees, first responders, elected officials, and concerned residents.

Evidence obtained by the Committee demonstrates that Bayer engaged in a campaign of secrecy by withholding critical information from local, county, and state emergency responders; by restricting the use of information provided to federal investigators; by undermining news outlets and citizen groups concerned about the dangers posed by Bayer’s activities; and by providing inaccurate and misleading information to the public.

On the night of the explosion, Bayer failed to provide emergency responders with critical information about the scope of the explosion, the potential chemical hazards involved, or the actions needed to safeguard the surrounding community.

http://www.wvgazette.com/static/ken/bayerhousereport.pdf

I have bad memories of this event -- I was "sheltering in place" for most of the night, putting duct tape around door and window frames and hoping that no really nasty chemicals were coming my way.

Now that the EPA and other protection agencies have a President who cares about the environment and those of us who live in it, maybe we can do something to avoid this problem in the future, and punish those companies who don't live up to their corporate responsibilities.

[WVRICK13]

1. Unfortunately

We have been treated like a third world nation in West Virginia while our politicians rape the resources and human souls. It isn't an accident that there are two plants of this type in the world, West Virginia and India, where both governments thrive on corruption and abuse of the populations.

[MadAnne]

2. Ken Ward at the Gazette

is doing a great job on this.

[slater89]

3. Yes He Is

I agree, the coverage has been tremendous.

[slater89]

4. What Could Have Happened

I just wander what would have happened if the worst would have happened. Would Kanawha County and the State of West Virginia been prepared for such a disaster?

[bingmanch]

5. ........

LMAO. Prepared? Are you kidding me? This town goes into conniptions when there's a fender bender on the I-64 dunbar bridge.