(Washington, DC -- September 8, 2003) The U.S. Chemical Safety Board has announced it will convene a public meeting in Washington, DC, on September 17, 2003, to present final reports on two recent investigations.
The meeting will begin at 9:30 am local time on Wednesday, September 17, at the George Washington University Conference Center's Third Floor Amphitheater, 800 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC.
The first investigation concerns a vapor cloud fire which occurred on January 13, 2003, at the BLSR Operating Ltd. oilfield waste disposal facility in Rosharon, Texas, south of Houston. The fire occurred as two vacuum trucks were delivering flammable gas condensate waste for disposal at the facility. Two BLSR employees and one truck driver were fatally burned. Two other workers suffered serious burns but survived.
The second investigation relates an incident on December 11, 2002, when a maintenance employee was overcome by hydrogen sulfide gas released from a waste processing vessel at Environmental Enterprises Inc. Environmental Enterprises is a hazardous waste treatment company located in Cincinnati, Ohio. No other injuries or damage were reported, and the injured worker was subsequently pulled to safety.
The Board will hear presentations from the investigators for each case and will review and consider their final reports. The investigation into the Environmental Enterprises incident is expected to lead to a CSB case study - a shorter report that presents findings and conclusions but does not have formal safety recommendations. There will be an opportunity for public comment on each investigation.
The CSB is an independent federal agency established in 1998 with the mission to protect workers, the public, and the environment by investigating and preventing chemical accidents. The CSB determines the root causes of these accidents and makes safety recommendations to government agencies, companies, and other organizations. The CSB does not issue fines or citations or apportion responsibility for accidents.
The meeting will be videotaped for future viewing from the Board's web site, csb.gov. For further information, contact Daniel Horowitz at 202-261-7613 or 202-441-6074 (cell).