Chemical Transportation Incidents – Week of 6-6-26

Reporting Background 

See this post for explanation, with the most recent update here (removed from paywall). 

Data from PHMSA’s online database of transportation related chemical incidents that have been reported to the agency. 

Incidents Summary  

• Number of incidents – 566 (523 highway, 37 air, 6 rail, 0 water) 

• Serious incidents – 7 (3 Bulk release, 1 evacuation, 2 injury, 0 death, 0 major artery closed, 5 fire/explosion, 54 no release)  

• Largest container involved – 27,960-gal Railcar {Acetone} 3 of 6 manway bolts not tool tight 

• Largest amount spilled – 500-gal Truck {Combustible Liquid, N.O.S.}  Tank overloaded, spilled during filling. 

• Total amount reported spilled in all incidents – 2315.9-gal 

NOTE: Links above are to Form 5800.1 for the incident described. 

Most Interesting Chemical: Phosphorus Pentasulfide, Free from Yellow and White Phosphorus: A greenish yellow solid with an odor of rotten eggs that may paralyze the sense of smell at hazardous concentrations in air. Density 2.04 g / cm3. It is used for making lube oil additives, insecticides, flotation agents, safety matches, blown asphalt, and other products and chemicals. (Source: CameoChemicals.NOAA.gov).  

Review – Bills Introduced – 7-9-26

Yesterday, with the House and Senate meeting in pro forma session, there were 42 bills introduced. One of those bills will receive additional coverage in this blog: 

HR 9624 To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, the Intelligence Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes. Crawford, Eric A. "Rick" [Rep.-R-AR-1]   

For more information on these bills, including legislative history for similar bills in the 118th Congress, as well as a mention in passing of 10 bills that would transfer programs out of the Education Department, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/bills-introduced-7-9-26 - subscription required. 

3 Advisories Published – 7-9-26

Today CISA’s NCCIC-ICS published three control system security advisories for products from Schneider (2) and Open PLC. 

Advisories  

Schneider Advisory #1 - This advisory describes a use of hard-coded credentials vulnerability in the Schneider Electric Easergy MiCOM Px40 Series Intelligent Electronic Devices. 

Schneider Advisory #2 - This advisory describes seven vulnerabilities in the Schneier Electric PowerChute Serial Shutdown UPS management system. 

OpenPLC Advisory - This advisory describes an external control of file name or path vulnerability in OpenPLC v3. 

What is a Chemical Facility?

I ran into an interesting article over on MountainStateSpotlight.org about a recent warehouse fire in Parkersburg, WV, that mimicked a fire in 2017 in the same city. Beyond the fires being on the same street, they were similar in that first responders were hampered by lack of knowledge about hazardous materials that may have been stored in the facilities. 

The article notes that:  

“Currently, chemical plants like those found in Wood and Kanawha counties have to keep that type of information [safety data sheets] on file, so firefighters can know what type of fire suppression tactics to use.” 

Unfortunately, warehouses and distribution centers appear to be exempt from those state fire safety regulations. 

This highlights an ongoing issue for chemical safety and security folks; what is a chemical facility? For most people, a chemical facility is a large facility with multiple very-large storage tanks and miles of piping. A warehouse, even one filled with drums and totebins full of chemicals, do not readily come to mind as chemical facilities for most people, apparently including such people as legislators. 

For chemical security people, an approach like that taken with the now dead Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program certainly seems to be appropriate. They prepared a relatively short (a little over 300) list of chemicals that could be used as weapons for a terrorist attack. Anyone that had a significant amount of any one of those chemicals on site would be considered to be a chemical facility of interest worthy of a government threat assessment and potential regulation. 

For chemical safety personnel and first responders, that is a much too limited approach. Chemicals that would be of no use to a terrorist organization, could still act as a bomb in a warehouse fire. A sealed drum of water will explode if nearby flames heat it to 100° C. The resulting steam cloud will burn nearby personnel. A drum of vinegar (mostly water with 4 to 8 percent acetic acid) will explode at about the same temperature, but the acetic acid gas cloud will be flammable and could explode in turn. A fiber drum of vegetable oil will fail well before it reaches its boiling point, and the liquid spill will float on top of water and could still ignite, spreading the fire with the flowing water. And the potential problems get even more complex and dangerous if you start to look at industrial chemicals. 

Fire fighters and other first responders need to know what chemicals are in a building before they enter it. All chemicals are dangerous in a burning warehouse. In that respect, every storage facility should be considered a chemical facility. 

Review - HR 9266 Introduced – Placarding for Refrigerants

Last month, Rep Carter (R,GA) introduced HR 9266, the Chief Chris Eddy’s Law. The bill would direct DOT to require the placarding of all refrigerated containers to communicate to emergency responders the potential of pressurization from such containers. No new funding is authorized by this legislation. 

I can find no legislation in the 118th Congress that would appear to be similar to HR 9266. A press release from Carter’s office notes: 

“In 2024, Georgia’s Greene County Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Chris Eddy, remembered as a “dedicated firefighter, leader, mentor, and loving husband and father,” was killed in the line of duty during an explosion caused by the rapid ignition of refrigerants inside a reefer storage container. Had the container been properly labeled, Eddy’s life could have been saved, as he would have known the dangers before approaching.” 

Moving Forward  

Carter is not a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there is probably not sufficient influence to see the bill considered by the Committee. Because the bill would require placarding requirements before a study established the need for such placarding, I suspect that the Committee would not support the bill were it to be considered. 

For more details about the provisions of this bill and the incident that inspired it, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-9266-introduced-placarding-for - subscription required.