News Releases

CSB Investigative Team Assessing Explosions and Fire at Barton Solvents near Wichita, Kansas

Jul 19, 2007

Washington, DC, July 19, 2007 - An investigative team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has been deployed to the site of Tuesday's explosions and fire at the Barton Solvents facility in Valley Center, Kansas, north of Wichita.

CSB Chairman Merritt Describes the Lessons from Five Years of Board Investigations to Senate Committee, Urges Additional Resources and Clearer Authorities for Federal Safety Efforts

Jul 10, 2007

Washington, DC, July 10, 2007- In testimony today before a Senate subcommittee, U.S. Chemical Safety Board Chairman Carolyn W. Merritt said that federal regulatory oversight of the petrochemical industry should be strengthened, BP's safety culture was flawed, and American communities are unprepared for chemical disasters.

CSB Finds Unspent Aircraft Oxygen Generators Contributed to Rapid Spread of Fire at EQ Facility in Apex, N.C. in 2006, Safety Advisory and Urgent Recommendation Issued

Jun 27, 2007

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today announced it is issuing a Safety Advisory concerning the dangers of transporting and handling unspent aircraft chemical oxygen generators. The action follows a CSB investigative finding that the devices most likely contributed to the rapid spread of a fire at the EQ Industrial Services (EQ) hazardous waste facility in Apex, NC on the night of October 5, 2006. The fire resulted in the evacuation of thousands of residents of Apex, located about 16 miles s

Text of Urgent Recommendation to Mobile Aerospace Engineering, Inc.

Jun 27, 2007

Text of Urgent Recommendation to Mobile Aerospace Engineering, Inc.

CSB Issues Safety Bulletin on Dangers of a Major Chlorine Release During Railcar Unloading; Agency Calls on U.S. Department of Transportation to Expand Regulatory Coverage to Require Emergency Shutdown Systems

Jun 14, 2007

Washington, DC, June 14, 2007 - The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today released a safety bulletin warning that some chlorine railcar transfer systems lack effective detection and emergency shutdown devices, leaving the public vulnerable to potential large-scale toxic releases.

CSB Issues Case Study on Fatal Partridge-Raleigh Oilfield Explosion in Mississippi; Recommends OSHA Program to Inspect Oil and Gas Production Facilities

Jun 12, 2007

Jackson, Mississippi, June 12, 2007 - In a case study report released today on a fatal explosion and fire last year at a Smith County oilfield, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) found that unsafe work practices were the cause of the accident and recommended increased Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspections of the region's oil and gas production facilities.

Test of Key Valve in Ghent, West Virginia, Fatal Convenience Store Explosion Points to Likely Source of Propane Release

Jun 07, 2007

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board today announced that initial testing of the propane tank recovered after a West Virginia convenience store explosion reveals that the liquid withdrawal valve on the tank malfunctions and leaks and was the likely source of the large propane release that exploded, killing four people and injuring five others.

In Testimony to House Workforce Protections Subcommittee, CSB Calls on Governments at All Levels to Establish OSHA Programs for Public Employees

May 24, 2007

Washington, DC, May 24, 2007 - The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today urged "governments at all levels to take steps to protect public employees from preventable chemical accidents, including the establishment of programs incorporating mandatory OSHA standards."

CSB Chairman Carolyn Merritt Tells House Subcommittee of "Striking Similarities" in Causes of BP Texas City Tragedy and Prudhoe Bay Pipeline Disaster

May 16, 2007

Washington, DC, May 16, 2007 - U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) Chairman Carolyn W. Merritt today told members of a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee that she found "striking similarities" between the causes of the fatal BP accident in Texas City, Texas, in 2005, and the company's pipeline failure at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in 2006 which resulted in the leakage of more than 200,000 gallons of oil. The pipeline suffered extensive corrosion due to lack of maintenance over several years.

In Preliminary Findings, CSB Investigators Say 2006 Danvers, Massachusetts, Explosion Caused by Solvent Vapor Accumulation, Lack of Ventilation inside Building; Flammable Liquid Safety Standards Were Not Implemented, CSB Investigators Find

May 09, 2007

In preliminary findings released today, U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) investigators said that the November 2006 explosion which destroyed a local ink and paint manufacturing plant and damaged scores of nearby buildings was most likely caused by the inadvertent overheating of solvents left stirring overnight in an unsealed mixing tank, releasing flammable vapor which accumulated and ignited.

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