Chemical accident assessed

A lack of planning and proper hazard analysis caused the 2004 runaway chemical reaction and toxic vapor cloud release at MFG Chemical in Dalton, GA, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board reported last week.

The accident, which forced 200 families to evacuate their homes and required 154 people to be decontaminated and treated for chemical exposure, occurred when a runaway chemical reaction rapidly pressurized a 4,000 gallon chemical reactor, releasing allyl alcohol and allyl chloride into the atmosphere.

“MFG did not adequately plan for scaling up the reaction from the laboratory to full production volume or evaluate how much heat the reaction would produce,” said CSB lead investigator John Vorderbrueggen. “If MFG had followed the good engineering and safety practices described in federal regulations, this accident would likely not have occurred.

CSB reports that the MFG accident was one of more than 170 serious reactive chemical accidents that have occurred since 1980.
“This is yet another serious industrial accident that endangered the public and resulted from an uncontrolled chemical reaction. It is vital that chemical operators properly assess the hazards and put appropriate safeguards and emergency plans into place,” said CSB chairman Carolyn Merritt.