CSB Publishes Four Investigation Update Reports – 10-3-22

Today, the Chemical Safety Board published updates for four of the current investigations being conducted by the Board. None of these reports have identified root causes of the incidents, but they do provide rather detailed looks at the timelines leading up to the accidents.

The four investigations being reported here are:

• Fatal Propylene Release and Explosion at Watson Grinding and Manufacturing in Houston, Texas,

• Hydrogen Chloride Release at Wacker Polysilicon, LLC in Charleston, Tennessee,

• Fatal Double Cone Dryer Explosion and Fire at Optima Belle LLC in Belle, West Virginia, and

• Fatal Liquid Nitrogen Release at Foundation Food Group in Gainesville, Georgia

Each of these investigations are ‘scheduled’ to have their final report published in the first half of next year, according to the CSB website.

I did some reporting (here and here) on this site about the liquid nitrogen incident that was based on the frequent information releases published by the CSB. I do not recall seeing similar ongoing investigation reporting on the other four incidents.

NOTE: The CSB’s Current Investigation page shows 16 investigations currently under way. That list does not include the recently announced BP Toledo Refinery investigation.