U.S. Chemical Safety Board information on Silver Eagle refinery investigation
From the AP:
Surveillance camera video shows a 100-foot fireball ripping through a Utah refinery during a gas explosion that knocked a nearby home off its foundation earlier this month.
The footage captured at the Silver Eagle refinery briefly shows a white cloud, which investigators say is hydrogen escaping from a ruptured pipe that erupts into a massive explosion.
The Nov. 4 blast damaged 100 homes in the Woods Cross area — though not all of them seriously. Four workers were thrown to the ground in the blast but were not seriously hurt. Another worker had been next to the pipe that exploded just minutes before, federal investigators said.
“I think it’s a miracle that this didn’t result in much more serious consequences,” Don Holmstrom, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board’s lead inspector on the blast, said Tuesday. “This accident could have been much, much worse.”
Board investigators are focusing on a 10-inch pipe that failed catastrophically and “serious deficiencies” in the plant’s program that’s supposed make sure its networks of pipes and equipment is safe and working properly.
Company officials last week heeded a recommendation from investigators to shut down the refinery until it’s deemed safe to reopen. Board officials say it’s the first time they’ve ever recommended a plant temporarily shut down.
