CSB releases a safety video about the December 8, 2020 explosion at the Optima Belle Chemical facility in Belle, West Virginia Short Summary This is an excerpt of the Investigative Report prepared...
CSB releases a safety video about the December 8, 2020 explosion at the Optima Belle Chemical facility in Belle, West Virginia
Short Summary
This is an excerpt of the Investigative Report prepared by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. You can view/download the full pdf report here.
*On Tuesday December 8, 2020, at approximately 10 pm EST an explosion occurred at Optima Chemical LLC in Belle, WV. The incident lead to one fatality and two injuries as well as a shelter-in-place for community members within a 2-mile radius of the facility. *
A fatal explosion occurred during a chemical drying process at Optima Belle due to a runaway decomposition reaction of sodium dichloroisocyanurate dihydrate (NaDCC), killing one worker and causing $33.1 Million in damage. The chemical decomposed at a much lower temperature (83°C) than the expected (240°C), which shows a major failure in hazard identification and thermal testing.
The equipment used was not designed for the thermal risks involved, and the safety systems were inadequate to manage pressure build up.
Reactive chemicals like NaDCC are not covered by OSHA's or EPA's safety regulations, something the CSB urgently recommends to fix.
The USCSB videos are always so consistently well done, I watch them as soon as they come out. I'm glad the department hasn't been DOGE-ed yet. Their animations have only gotten better and better....
The USCSB videos are always so consistently well done, I watch them as soon as they come out. I'm glad the department hasn't been DOGE-ed yet. Their animations have only gotten better and better.
That said, it is really said when one of their conclusions is basically "other government departments should've done what we recommended over 20 years ago to prevent this."
It looks like they tried back in 2019. Per some comments under that YouTube video, it also appears that the last government neglected to appoint anyone to the vacant seats on the board. So all the...
I'm glad the department hasn't been DOGE-ed yet.
It looks like they tried back in 2019. Per some comments under that YouTube video, it also appears that the last government neglected to appoint anyone to the vacant seats on the board. So all the current administration may need to do to kill it is wait until 2027 when the appointees’ terms expire.
Previous discussions can be found here.
CSB releases a safety video about the December 8, 2020 explosion at the Optima Belle Chemical facility in Belle, West Virginia
Short Summary
This is an excerpt of the Investigative Report prepared by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. You can view/download the full pdf report here.
*On Tuesday December 8, 2020, at approximately 10 pm EST an explosion occurred at Optima Chemical LLC in Belle, WV. The incident lead to one fatality and two injuries as well as a shelter-in-place for community members within a 2-mile radius of the facility. *
A fatal explosion occurred during a chemical drying process at Optima Belle due to a runaway decomposition reaction of sodium dichloroisocyanurate dihydrate (NaDCC), killing one worker and causing $33.1 Million in damage. The chemical decomposed at a much lower temperature (83°C) than the expected (240°C), which shows a major failure in hazard identification and thermal testing.
The equipment used was not designed for the thermal risks involved, and the safety systems were inadequate to manage pressure build up.
Reactive chemicals like NaDCC are not covered by OSHA's or EPA's safety regulations, something the CSB urgently recommends to fix.
The USCSB videos are always so consistently well done, I watch them as soon as they come out. I'm glad the department hasn't been DOGE-ed yet. Their animations have only gotten better and better.
That said, it is really said when one of their conclusions is basically "other government departments should've done what we recommended over 20 years ago to prevent this."
It looks like they tried back in 2019. Per some comments under that YouTube video, it also appears that the last government neglected to appoint anyone to the vacant seats on the board. So all the current administration may need to do to kill it is wait until 2027 when the appointees’ terms expire.