The May 4, blast at 4301 Infirmary Road also damaged 20 nearby residences and five businesses.
In their report, federal board investigators said they found that a north wall in the lab and operations building — where the victims were injured — was less than 30 feet from the waste recycling processing area where the flammable vapor was released.
The report concluded the accident happened when flammable vapor was released from a waste recycling process, ignited and violently exploded.
“This accident should not have happened,” said board chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso.
Bob Garner, vice president of compliance and quality for Veolia Environmental Services Technical Solutions, said his company has remediated the plant’s affected area and construction is now in the design and permit phase of development.
“We do support (the board’s) recommendation that there be an increased distance between these processing areas and occupied structures,” Garner said, adding that new construction follows that protocol.
“We’re not going into it with the same footprint,” he said.
Garner said Veolia worked closely with the board during its investigation.
“We were cooperative with them and they with us,” he said.
The board’s report calls on the industry to improve safety standards covering hazardous waste processing, handling and storage facilities.
It recommended also fire protection codes be revised to require companies to determine safe distances between occupied buildings and potentially hazardous operating areas.
Moure-Eraso said while the board’s report cites the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s citation of Veolia for “inadequate attention to process safety management practices in the handling of flammable liquids,” he believes it “critical that buildings at chemical facilities be sited safe distances from process equipment to maximize the safety of workers.”
Garner said Veolia late last year paid $75,000 in fines for the two OSHA citations.
Moure-Eraso said the board recommended also that operating areas with occupied buildings, such as control rooms, “be sufficiently separated from process areas containing flammable liquids and gases that have the potential to explode.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-9338 or kmcallister@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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