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Explosion ruled accidental, result of ignitable liquid

Graphic by Ted Pitts View the location of the Veolia Environmental Services plant.

An overnight explosion and fire in West Carrollton at an industrial plant on Infirmary Rd. was still burning early Monday, May 4.

Staff photo by Ty Greenlees An overnight explosion and fire in West Carrollton at an industrial plant on Infirmary Rd. was still burning early Monday, May 4.

Robert Leifheit/Chemical Plant on Infirmary Rd in West Carrollton, causes quite a disturbance as it explodes into flames around 12:00 am Monday May 4th, 2009.

Photo by Robert Leifheit for the Dayton Daily News Robert Leifheit/Chemical Plant on Infirmary Rd in West Carrollton, causes quite a disturbance as it explodes into flames around 12:00 am Monday May 4th, 2009.

Chemical Plant on Infirmary Rd in West Carrollton, causes quite a disturbance as it explodes into flames around 12:00 am Monday May 4th, 2009.

Photo by Robert Leifheit for the Dayton Daily News Chemical Plant on Infirmary Rd in West Carrollton, causes quite a disturbance as it explodes into flames around 12:00 am Monday May 4th, 2009.

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By James Cummings, Staff Writer Updated 11:23 AM Tuesday, May 5, 2009

WEST CARROLLTON — The explosion that triggered a raging fire at the Veolia Environmental Services plant early Monday, May 4, has been ruled accidental, according to a release from the State Fire Marshal’s office and the city of West Carrollton.

The release said investigators for the city, the fire marshal’s office and other state and federal authorities “found no evidence of criminal intent during their investigation.”

The release said a leak of ignitable liquid, possibly acetone or Tetrahydrofuran, came in contact with gas-fired boilers in or around a laboratory building on the site at 4301 Infirmary Road in West Carrollton.

The resulting explosion flung debris up to a quarter mile from the site of the blast, the release said.

Officials with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the fire marshal’s office, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration and the company today are expected to continue working to determine whether there will be any lingering environmental effects. Early indications, though, were that the area surrounding the plant site remains safe.

According to West Carrollton Fire Chief Jack Keister, six employees were transferring solvents from one tank to another when they noticed a leak. Somehow, the leaking fumes ignited and exploded about midnight in an area of storage tanks behind a laboratory building at the plant on Infirmary Road.

One worker suffered first- and second-degree burns and another suffered a leg injury, Keister said.

The release said the man with the leg injury was treated at a local hospital on Monday and was later released. Of the man with the leg injury, Keister said, “At first we thought he was deceased. He came walking out of the woods about three hours into the fire.”

Nancy Thickel, a spokeswoman for Premier Health Partners, said the other worker was in the Miami Valley Hospital burn unit Monday. She didn’t have a name or information on his condition.

The release said the two men had the only injuries that were reported to the fire department and the fire marshal’s office.

Businesses and home owners near the Veolia site were assessing damages on Tuesday morning in the wake of the explosion that rattled windows and knocked photos off walls a mile away.

Doug Wagner, operations manager of Moody’s of Dayton, a water well contracting company immediately south of Veolia, said no one was on his site when the blast went off.

But the shock wave from the explosion twisted two 15-foot-high metal garage doors at the rear of the Moody’s building like taffy. “We got off pretty easy,” Wagner said.

Elsewhere along Infirmary Road plywood was nailed over house windows, and broken ceiling tiles were piled in a bin in front of one building.

Brian Marlatt, an environmental specialist on hazardous materials for the Ohio EPA’s Dayton office, said Monday that he’ll investigate the cause of the explosion, the “full nature and extent” of any chemical releases, and whether there were any violations or negligence involved.

Veolia Environmental Services was groping for answers on Monday as to what caused the explosion and fire that alarmed neighbors for miles.

“We are still investigating exactly why the explosion occurred. Preliminary indications are that it was related to the recycling of a solvent material,” the company said in a prepared statement.

Jim Dykhuis, a Veolia spokesman who referred questions to plant manager Darek Teeters, said, “I don’t want to speculate, but you’re dealing with flammable materials here.”

On Tuesday morning, Teeters told a representative of the Dayton Daily News that he would not comment on the accident or related issues until later.

According to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, Tetrahydrofuran is a highly flammable solvent used in industrial processes such as producing polyvinyl chloride films and adhesives. Tetrahydrofuran is a central nervous system depressant in humans and may cause irritation of the mucous membranes and upper respiratory tract and liver and kidney damage.

Acetone also is highly flammable and can be an irritant, according to the Ohio EPA. It is a solvent used in common products such as nail polish remover. In industrial settings, it’s used in the manufacture of plastics, fibers, drugs, and other chemicals.

The Labor Department’s OSHA has officials on the scene, spokesman Brad Mitchell of Chicago said Monday.

“We have had no complaints, no issues at the site, either under the (previous) Onyx name or the current owners,” Mitchell said.

While Veolia has had a few minor violations with the Ohio EPA, Marlatt said, “this is a facility that manages its wastes properly. They’re not bad actors.”

The company is in the process of voluntarily remediating some contamination left over from a 1986 spill of 2,800 gallons of recycled paint thinner, Marlatt said. The spill occurred under the stewardship of a previous owner, Chemical Waste Management Resource Recovery, he said.

Because of the remediation effort, there are groundwater monitors in place on the plant grounds that can be used to assess any new contamination from the explosion, Marlatt said.

He said he will ask company officials for the truck manifests to see what kinds of hazardous materials were on site at the time of the explosion. Veolia has a permit to handle a large array of dangerous chemicals, some of which are flammable.

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