Illiopolis, IL, October 27 - U.S. Chemical Safety Board inspectors are just now getting to ground zero at the Formosa Plastics plant near Illiopolis and are retrieving equipment for testing, according to the State Journal-Register.
An explosion at the plant on April 23 killed five Formosa workers.
"We are, after a long period since the accident, where we can finally go in and remove some of the key evidence like valves, controls and parts of the deluge system," said Daniel Horowitz, a spokesman for the board.
"We've gone to some sites in the past that were very heavily damaged or destroyed, but I don't recall a case where the structural issues were like this, where it was dangerous to enter. It's been an anomaly, so it's taken some additional time to address."
Dealing with leftover chemicals at the site of the explosion also caused some delays, he said.
The CSB's investigation is expected to take at least a year, but the agency may put out an interim report within the next few months, Horowitz said.
Once equipment is retrieved from inside the facility, the CSB will run tests to see if there were problems with it.
The CSB is not a regulatory agency like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which issued a report last week on operations at the plant. Unlike
OSHA, the board determines the causes of accidents; it does not issue fines or penalties.
Once the cause of an accident is determined - typically, deficiencies in safety management systems - the Chemical Safety Board makes safety recommendations based on its findings.
An internal Formosa investigation reportedly indicates that the explosion was caused by human error, although a spokesman for the company has declined to be specific.
Horowitz said the CSB findings probably will be more precise.
"What we typically find is that there are a variety of causes and areas where there are mistakes made," he said.
"We try to understand why and what happened. What we've usually found is that there are several different management systems that come into play - systems for understanding and controlling hazards in the plant, training workers, developing operating procedures."
OSHA has proposed $361,500 in fines for Formosa after finding 45 serious violations of federal standards, including a "wide range of hazards associated with control of flammable liquid and ignition sources, insufficient worker training ... and insufficient training on emergency response, organization and equipping of fire brigade personnel."
It also cited three "willful" violations, the most serious that can be found by OSHA. They were that the company:
· Failed to maintain fire-protection equipment.
· Failed to replace or repair defective equipment used in highly hazardous chemical processes.
· Conducted inadequate inspections and tests of equipment used in processes involving highly hazardous chemicals.
OSHA based its findings on interviews with employees, company documents and other evidence.
Formosa, which says it spent millions of dollars upgrading the facility since acquiring it in 2002, intends to appeal OSHA's allegations.
Horowitz said that while the Chemical Safety Board will review OSHA's findings, the CSB investigation will "be on a separate but parallel track." The two agencies have "distinct missions and distinct timelines" and work independently of each other, he said.
The 10:40 p.m. explosion happened during a normal shift in which employees were mixing chemicals to form polyvinyl chloride resins to be used to make pipes, vinyl siding, flooring, medical supplies and interior auto parts.
The blast killed five employees and injured several others, including some who were hospitalized for weeks.
The company has said it plans to rebuild at the site.
