Review – CSB Updated the Status of 11 Incident Recommendations – 9-19-25

Yesterday the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) updated their Recent Recommendation Status Updates page, closing five recommendations with acceptable alternative actions. These actions left 117 of 1019 recommendations open. Additionally, the CSB updated the open status of six recommendations. The CSB took all of these actions on September 19th, 2025. The previous update was published on September 6th, 2025.

The five recently closed recommendations are:

Evergreen Packaging Paper Mill – Fire During Hot Work - 2020-07-I-NC-R6 - Universal Blastco,

Didion Milling Company Explosion and Fire - 2017-07-I-WI-R1 - Didion Milling, Inc.,

Didion Milling Company Explosion and Fire - 2017-07-I-WI-R5 - Didion Milling, Inc.,

Didion Milling Company Explosion and Fire - 2017-07-I-WI-R6 - Didion Milling, Inc., and

Didion Milling Company Explosion and Fire - 2017-07-I-WI-R9 - Didion Milling, Inc.

Five of the six ‘updated open investigations’ are associated with the Yenkin-Majestic Resin Plant Vapor Cloud Explosion and Fire that occurred on April 8^th, 2021. The five updates were all assigned to Yenkin-Majestic Paint Corporation. The CSB changed the status to ‘Open – Unacceptable Response/No Response Received’, noting that:

“To date, Yenkin-Majestic/OPC Polymers has not provided information responsive to the recommendations. CSB staff have made multiple attempts to elicit such information, all of which  have been unsuccessful. The CSB hopes that further dialogue will cause Yenkin-Majestic to act on these recommendations.”

The remaining open status update was from the Aghorn Operating Inc. Waterflood Station Hydrogen Sulfide Release that occurred on October 26, 2019. The update was to a recommendation for Aghorn Operating Inc. and was changed to ‘Open – Acceptable Response or Alternate Response’. Aghorn has provided CSB with an implementation plan for their corrective actions.

For more details about the actions taken that led to the changes in recommendations status, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/csb-updated-the-status-of-11-incident - subscription required.