Chemical Safety Board News

BP Layoffs at Ohio Refinery After Fire Indicate Prolonged Shutdown

BP Plc laid off most contractors at the approximately 160,000 barrel-per-day Toledo, Ohio, refinery it owns with Cenovus Energy Inc., according to sources familiar with the matter on Wednesday, indicating that the plant will experience a prolonged shutdown following last …

Chemical Safety Watchdog To Proceed, With Only One Board Member

HOUSTON — The U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which has only one board member instead of the usual five, was to meet on Friday despite efforts by President Donald Trump to wind down the federal watchdog agency responsible for probing major …

Second Evacuation Order Lifted in Texas City Hit by Explosion, Chemical Fire

HOUSTON — Authorities on Thursday lifted a second evacuation order in a week for thousands of people in a Texas city as U.S. safety officials began examining what caused the latest in a series of chemical plant fires in the …

Chemical Leak Set Off Fire that Shut Houston Shipping Channel

HOUSTON — The U.S. Chemical Safety Board said on Wednesday a fuel leak, possibly due to open valves and a running pump, set off a massive blaze at a Mitsui & Co Ltd petrochemical storage operation along the Houston Ship …

Investigators to Begin Hunt for Cause of Texas Petrochemical Disaster

U.S. investigators hope this week for the first time to enter the site of a massive fuel fire and chemical spill outside Houston to begin the hunt for a cause and to determine whether the operator followed safety regulations. The …

Chemical Safety Board Links Plugged Drill Pipe to Deadly Oklahoma Well Fire

There were signs that a natural gas well was not fully sealed before it exploded in January, killing five workers, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board said in an updated report on the accident last week. The incident, which took place …

Probe Finds Texas Chemical Plant Unprepared for Harvey Floods

The federal agency that investigates industrial accidents offered muted criticism Thursday of the Houston-area chemical plant that flooded during Hurricane Harvey and partially exploded. Crews for Arkema Inc. worked “to the best of their ability” to keep equipment that cooled …

Investigators Say Texas Chemical Plant Unprepared for Hurricane Harvey

Federal investigators said Wednesday they’ve seen no signs that a Houston-area chemical plant that flooded and partially exploded during Hurricane Harvey considered moving its highly unstable compounds offsite as a precaution. Much of Arkema Inc.’s facility in Crosby, just outside …

New Safety Alert Issued in Response to Tesoro Refinery Blast

Federal investigators have issued new safety recommendations aimed at preventing accidents similar to the 2010 explosion that killed seven workers at the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, Washington. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board released the safety alert Thursday after concluding that …

Fed Agency Says 80 Dangerous Texas Plants Pose Risk to Public Centers

Dozens of Texas plants similar to a fertilizer facility that exploded in the town of West in 2013, one of Texas’ worst industrial accidents, are still operating near schools, hospitals and residential neighborhoods, federal regulators say. A report released by …