News Releases

CSB Issues Urgent Safety Recommendation to BP Global Board, Calls for Creation of Independent Panel to Examine Corporate Safety Management, Oversight, and Safety Culture

Aug 17, 2005

Houston, Texas, August 17, 2005 - The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, (CSB) today issued an urgent recommendation calling on the BP Global Executive Board of Directors to commission an independent panel that would review a range of safety management and culture issues in the wake of recent chemical accidents at BP's south Texas facilities.

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Ruptured Transfer Hose Caused August 11 Chlorine Release at Honeywell Plant in Baton Rouge; Rapid Shutoff Attributed to Upgraded Safety Systems

Aug 12, 2005

Washington, DC, August 12, 2005 - A three-person assessment team from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) said that a ruptured chlorine transfer hose, which was being used to unload a railroad chlorine tank car, resulted in the chlorine release yesterday morning at the Honeywell International plant in Baton Rouge, LA. Investigators Lisa Long, Allen Smith, and Katherine Leskin conducted interviews with employees today and will continue their work on Saturday.

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CSB Investigators Return to Honeywell Baton Rouge Facility to Examine Chlorine Release Day After Agency Issued Report on Previous Chlorine Release and Other Incidents

Aug 11, 2005

Washington, DC, August 11, 2005 - A three-person team from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is deploying to Baton Rouge to examine this morning's chlorine release at the Honeywell International plant. The incident occurred approximately 24 hours following a news conference in Baton Rouge at which CSB Chairman Carolyn Merritt and Lead Investigator Lisa Long presented the final CSB Investigation Report on three Honeywell toxic chemical releases - one involving chlorine - that occurred over a four-week period in the summer of 2003.

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CSB States Three Honeywell Baton Rouge Accidents in 2003 Were Avoidable; Final Report Finds Inadequate Hazard Analyses, Work Practices Common to All

Aug 10, 2005

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, August 10, 2005 - The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) today released a final report on its investigation of three incidents that occurred at the Honeywell International, Inc., plant in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 2003. Each involved toxic releases and in one case, the death of a worker.

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CSB Investigators Continue Assessment of July 28 Explosion and Fire at BP Texas City Refinery

Jul 30, 2005

Washington, DC, July 30, 2005 - Investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board today continued a preliminary investigation into the explosion and fire which occurred at the BP Texas City refinery on Thursday, July 28, 2005. CSB Investigators Giby Joseph and Francisco Altamirano visited the site where the accident occurred for a second time. They continued interviewing plant operators, and requested additional documentation and other information from the company regarding the chemical process underway at the time of the accident. They arranged for eyewitnesses to be interviewed early in the week, and announced their intention to arrange testing protocols -- to examine a pipe that separated from a flange -- to determine what caused it to fail. Mr. Joseph said the explosion occurred during what appeared to be a normal operation in the reactor section of the plant's Resid Hydrotreater Unit # 1, or RHU, when an eight-inch pipe connected to a heat exchanger failed at the flange. (Flanges are pipe fittings which are used to connect equipment such as pipes and valves.)

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CSB Investigators Complete Praxair Fieldwork Today; Team Conducted Key Interviews, Returns to Washington

Jun 27, 2005

St. Louis, Missouri, June 27, 2005 - An investigation team from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) today conducted a series of key interviews into the explosions and fire that swept through the Praxair, Inc. gas repackaging facility in St. Louis last Friday. The team wrapped up its initial fieldwork and planned to return to headquarters in Washington, DC.

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CSB Team Tours Site of St. Louis Gas Explosion Accident; Assessment Process Continues Through Weekend

Jun 26, 2005

St. Louis, Missouri, June 26, 2005 - A team from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) arrived in St. Louis, MO, on Saturday to get a first-hand look at the damage wreaked by Friday's multiple gas explosions at Praxair Inc. facility. CSB Investigation Manager Steve Selk, PE, led the team of three, who toured the plant and surrounding community to assess the damage and impact of the incident.

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CSB Team Assessing St. Louis Gas Explosion Accident

Jun 24, 2005

Washington, DC, June 24, 2005 - A team from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is deploying to St. Louis, MO, where a series of powerful gas explosions occurred at the Praxair facility earlier this afternoon. CSB Investigation Manager Steve Selk, PE, will be leading the team, which will assess the nature and impact of the incident. CSB investigators are expected at the site Saturday morning.

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CSB Reports Chemical Dust Explosions are "Serious Problem;" Nearly 200 Accidents took 100 Lives; Data, Testimony Noted at Publice Hearing Today

Jun 22, 2005

Washington, DC, June 22, 2005 – Carolyn Merritt, Chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) declared chemical dust explosions in the United States are a “serious industrial safety problem” in opening a day-long hearing into the hazards of such accidents. Chairman Merritt noted the CSB’s preliminary research reveals that nearly 200 dust fires and explosions have occurred in U.S. industrial facilities over the past 25 years, resulting in approximately 100 fatalities and 600 injuries.

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Statement of Board Member John S. Bresland Updating the Status of the CSB's Investigation at the BP Texas City Refinery

Apr 28, 2005

I am John Bresland, Board Member of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board the CSB. We are the independent federal agency that has been investigating the cause of the tragedy at the BP Texas City refinery for the past five weeks. With me at the podium is CSB investigator-in-charge Don Holmstrom, who is leading the field investigation. We currently have a staff of 10 investigators and experts at the site. We expect this field phase of our root cause investigation to continue for a number of additional weeks. In our first five weeks, we have conducted detailed interviews of about 120 witnesses and collected more than 10,000 pages of documentary evidence.

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