News Releases

Board Member Poje Testifies in New Jersey on Reactive Hazards

Mar 17, 2003

Washington, DC - March 17, 2003 - Board Member Dr. Gerald Poje told New Jersey state regulators in Trenton today that their new proposed reactive hazards regulation "includes actions in line with the Board's recommendations to OSHA." Reactive hazards are the dangers associated with uncontrolled chemical reactions in industrial processes. These uncontrolled reactions - such as thermal runaways and chemical decompositions - have been responsible for numerous fires, explosions, and toxic gas releases. From 1980 and 2001, 167 serious reactive accidents caused 108 fatalities in the U.S., according to the CSB's reactive hazards investigation.

CSB Board Unanimously Finds Inadequate Fire Detection and Protection Systems Led to May 1st Disaster at Houston Area Third Coast Plant

Mar 06, 2003

(Houston, TX - March 6, 2003) Better fire protection systems could have suppressed the huge fire that swept through the Third Coast Industries facility south of the city last year, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has found in a report approved unanimously today at a CSB public meeting in Houston.

CSB Investigation Finds Inadequate Fire Detection and Protection Systems Led to May 1st Disaster at Houston Area Third Coast Plant

Mar 06, 2003

(Houston, TX - March 6, 2003) Better fire protection systems could have suppressed the huge fire that swept through the Third Coast Industries facility south of the city last year, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has found in a report to be considered for approval at a CSB public meeting Thursday in Houston.

CSB Investigation Team To Return To Corbin (KY) Explosion Site Next Week

Feb 28, 2003

(Washington, DC - Feb. 28, 2003) Investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today completed their first week's work at CTA Acoustics in Corbin, KY, where an explosion last Thursday caused four fatal injuries and left a number of workers with severe burns. The investigative team will return to the Corbin site next week.

CSB Investigation Team Enters Explosion Site In Corbin, Kentucky

Feb 22, 2003

(Washington, DC - Feb. 22, 2003) Experts from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today entered the site of yesterday's explosion at CTA Acoustics near Corbin, Kentucky, beginning what is expected to be a lengthy investigation into the cause of the devastating blast that seriously burned more than 10 workers.

CSB Deploys Investigation Team To Site Of Explosion In Corbin, Kentucky

Feb 20, 2003

(Washington, DC - Feb. 20, 2003) The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has dispatched a preliminary investigative team to the site of this morning's explosion at the CTA Acoustics plant in Corbin, KY.

CSB Team Heading to Site of Rhode Island Chemical Incident

Feb 07, 2003

(Washington, DC - February 7, 2003) The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has dispatched an investigative team to the site of this morning's reported chemical explosion at Technic Inc. in Cranston, Rhode Island, south of Providence. CSB Board Member Dr. Isadore (Irv) Rosenthal will be accompanying the team, which will be headed by lead investigator Randy McClure. Preliminary reports indicate that a number of injuries occurred and that cyanide, acid, and other materials may have been present. The CSB team will immediately begin examining the nature of the accident.

CSB Team Finds Several Possible Sources of Explosive Dust at Destroyed N.C. Medical Plant

Feb 03, 2003

(Kinston, NC - February 3, 2003, 4 p.m. Eastern) Investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) now say they have identified several potential sources of explosive dust from rubber processing operations at West Pharmaceuticals and are looking into what ignited a massive explosion on the lower level of the rubber compounding area at the plant.

CSB Team Focuses on Rubber Blending Area in North Carolina Explosion

Jan 30, 2003

(Kinston, NC - January 30, 2003, 7 p.m. Eastern) Following leads from more than one hundred witness interviews by federal investigators, experts from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board believe that Wednesday's deadly explosion at West Pharmaceuticals in Kinston, North Carolina, originated in an area of the plant where synthetic rubber compounds were processed and dried.

CSB Investigators Examining Source of Flammable Vapor Cloud in Fatal Houston Area Truck Fire

Jan 16, 2003

(Houston, TX - January 16, 2003) Investigators with the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, accompanied by Board Chairman Carolyn W. Merritt, continue their investigation into the cause of a deadly flash fire at an oilfield waste recovery facility south of Houston, which killed two workers and injured three others on Monday, January 13, 2003.

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