Accident: Packaging Corporation Storage Tank Explosion
Location: Location: Tomahawk, WI
Accident Occurred On: 07/29/2008 | Final Report Released On: 03/04/2010
Accident Type: Hot Work - Explosion and Fire
Investigation Status: The CSB issued a hot work safety bulletin summarizing the key findings from the investigation at a news conference on March 4, 2010.
On July 29, 2008, three workers died and a fourth was injured when an explosion occurred inside an 80-foot-tall storage tank at the Packaging Corporation of America (PCA) corrugated cardboard mill in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. The workers were on a catwalk above the tank and performing hot work (welding) at the time of the explosion. The storage tank held a mixture of recycled paper pulp and water which the CSB found decomposed to form flammable hydrogen.