Gazette photo by Chris Dorst

When it announced plans to investigate recent DuPont Co. Belle plant problems — including a Saturday afternoon phosgene leak that killed a worker –  the U.S. Chemical Safety Board noted its concern about six previous leaks at the facility since December 2006.

I thought readers might want some more information about those six incidents, so here goes:

– December 2006 –  On Saturday, Dec. 9, 2006, DuPont reported a leak and then a fire in the Belle plant’s amines unit. DuPont reported to WVDEP a pressure spike that caused three flanges to fail and cause a pipe to leak. Then, another small hole in a one-inch pipe triggered a fire. Initially, DuPont told the National Response Center that about 150 pounds of the chemical trimethylamine leaked. DuPont uses this chemical in the production of animal feed supplements. It has a strong fishy smell, which spread around the Kanawha Valley, causing residents to need to clean their cars and clothes. Within a week, DuPont reported the leak was four times larger than the company originally reported.

(more…)

CSB investigator Johnnie Banks briefs the Kanawha Valley media.

U.S. Chemical Safety Board investigators just revealed would could turn out to be a major finding in their probe of the death of DuPont Belle plant worker Carl “Danny” Fish (left).

CSB lead investigator Johnnie Banks said the hose that sprayed phosgene onto Fish showed signs of “fraying” and “wear.” During a briefing at a Charleston hotel, Banks told the Kanawha Valley media:

We intend to closely examine this hose as we more forward.

We’ve previously reported that the CSB was likely to focus on what it called a “braided steel hose” that was used by DuPont to transfer phosgene from one-ton cylinders to a production unit. That story pointed out that another Kanawha Valley chemical company that uses phosgene, Bayer CropScience, utilizes only solid steel piping for transfers of the chemical.

Banks described the hose as an 18-inch-long quarter-inch hose, with woven stainless steel on the outside and Teflon inside. It was damaged badly enough that investigators could see its Teflon lining through a small hole, Banks told me after the press conference.

By the time CSB investigators got to the plant on Tuesday, DuPont had already removed the hose from the unit where the fatal accident occurred. Banks said it is now secured and the CSB is not worried that its value as evidence was compromised when it was moved.

(more…)