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Ohio EPA to probe cause of plant explosion

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

By Tom Beyerlein, Staff Writer Updated 3:35 PM Monday, May 4, 2009

As the emergency draws to a close at the Veolia Environmental Services plant in West Carrollton, local officials of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency are investigating to find out exactly what happened and whether there’s any lingering environmental fallout.

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

The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has officials on the scene and is investigating, spokesman Brad Mitchell of Chicago said.

“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 in the past, 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 which 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.

It was unknown this afternoon precisely what chemical or chemicals triggered the midnight explosion, which seriously injured two workers. Fire officials said there was a vapor leak as workers were transferring an industrial solvent from one tank to another.

Ohio EPA spokeswoman Heather Lauer in Columbus said records indicate only one enforcement action by the agency against the plant in recent times.

The Ohio EPA in 2002 issued a $14,600 fine against the plant’s prior operator, Onyx Environmental Services, for several safety violations. Veolia bought Onyx in 2006.

Ohio EPA records show that Onyx officials notified the agency that 14 drums of hazardous waste had been transported to an unlicensed facility out of state. Ohio EPA officials subsequently inspected the Infirmary Road plant, and found several instances of improper handling of hazardous waste containers. In one instance, the company “failed to manage a container holding hazardous waste in a manner to prevent the container from rupturing or leaking.”

<p class="note">Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2264 or tbeyerlein@DaytonDailyNews.com.</p>

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