The Obama administration’s Labor Department tried to make a pretty big splash yesterday, announcing that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration had levied $16.6 million in fines for three construction companies and 14 site contractors for violations related to the Feb. 7 explosion that killed six workers at the Kleen Energy power plant construction project in Middletown, Conn.
As described in the OSHA news release:
On Feb. 7, a gas blow operation was being performed in which flammable natural gas was pumped under high pressure through new fuel gas lines to remove debris. During this operation, an extremely large amount of natural gas was vented into areas where it could not easily disperse. Welding and other work was being performed nearby, creating an extremely dangerous situation. The explosion occurred when the gas contacted an ignition source.
In connection with the explosion, OSHA has cited O&G Industries Inc., the project’s general contractor; Keystone Construction and Maintenance Inc., which was in charge of the piping and oversaw the gas blow; and Bluewater Energy Services Inc., the commissioning and startup contractor for the plant.
All three companies were cited for performing the gas blow procedure in a way that exposed workers to fire and explosion hazards, including the configuration of the vent pipes in close proximity to scaffolding and other structures, and the failure to remove non-essential personnel from the area. Citations were also issued for failing to install and use electrical equipment in accordance with its listing and labeling, allowing welding work during the gas blows and failing to train employees to recognize hazards associated with gas blows.
There’s coverage of the OSHA announcement from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press, and the Middletown Press.
Most of the coverage includes comments from OSHA chief David Michaels, lamenting what he said was his agency’s inability to ban the inherently dangerous practice of natural gas blows during pipe venting.
Here’s one version of Michaels’ (above) statement:
Dr. Michaels said OSHA saw the use of flammable gas to clear pipes as inherently dangerous and requiring immediate attention because there were plans for 125 similar power plants across the country.
OSHA has issued a warning letter to other operators of gas-fired power plants urging them not to make the mistakes made in Middletown and to consider using alternatives to flammable gas. But the agency stopped short of issuing an emergency ban on the practice, and is reviewing whether a ban could sustain a legal challenge.
“We would love to be able to ban this, but we can’t,” Dr. Michaels said.
And here’s another:
OSHA administrator David Michaels, in a news briefing Thursday, said his agency is putting the power industry “on notice that it is inherently dangerous” to conduct gas blows and he said the industry “must assure worker safety,” if it persists.
But he said he wouldn’t put an emergency order in place that would prohibit gas blows until the agency studies it further. “We would love to be able to ban it, but we can’t,” he said.
Dr. Michaels said OSHA has issued nine emergency standards since 1971, the year the agency was created. Five were struck down and four survived. “The bar is extremely high,” he said. “We have to show there’s no other way to save lives” than by prohibiting a practice.
He said the power industry likely would argue that gas blows can be done safely since they don’t always result in explosion.
But it seems likely that David Michaels is going to take Rafael Moure-Eraso, chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, off his Christmas card list … because Moure-Eraso issued a statement that yesterday that said Michaels is just wrong:
Today, OSHA announced citations and proposed fines against construction companies and contractors at the Kleen Energy power plant construction site and announced a plan to notify natural gas power plant operators of the dangers of natural gas blows.
I was pleased that during his news conference, Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, stated his agency is studying the CSB recommendation to prohibit flammable gas releases during cleaning operations, and that OSHA agrees with the CSB that this problem must be addressed immediately.
Dr. Michaels stated that OSHA likely does not have the authority to prohibit the use of flammable gases during pipe cleaning operations, and that promulgating such a regulation would take years.
The CSB believes that OSHA does have adequate authority to take this action and to start the standard setting process at any time.
Moure-Eraso noted that the CSB issued urgent recommendations back in June that urged OSHA to prohibit the release of flammable gas to the atmosphere for the purpose of cleaning fuel gas piping:
The CSB found that the practice of gas blows is inherently unsafe. In its investigation of the Kleen Energy accident, the CSB found that several safe alternatives to pipe cleaning are available to the industry are already in use, such as compressed air, nitrogen and the use of a solid cleaning device propelled by compressed air that is referred to as a pig. Furthermore, the CSB found companies have already begun to ban the practice. And at least one leading manufacturer of natural gas electric turbines, General Electric, has informed its customers it will not support the practice of gas blows to clear out pipes leading to the turbines. A GE official discussed this during the CSB public meeting held in June in Connecticut.
Pallbearers leave the First Church of Christ Congregational with the casket of Raymond Dobratz after his funeral in Old Saybrook, Conn., on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010. Dobratz, 58, was one of six people killed in an explosion at Kleen Energy Systems in Middletown, Conn., on Sunday, Feb. 7. (AP Photo / Fred Beckham)
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