The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) announced today that it was dispatching a four-person team to investigate Saturday’s explosion at Kuraray America’s chemical plant in Pasadena, Texas.
The CSB is an independent, non-regulatory federal agency charged with investigating serious chemical incidents.
Kuraray America Explosion Occurred During Maintenance Turnaround
Kuraray America’s Pasadena chemical plant manufactures ethylene vinyl-alcohol copolymers, a type of plastic that is primarily used in packaging.
The May 19th explosion occurred around 10:20 a.m., during a turnaround period, while the facility was undergoing heavy maintenance.
Kuraray has indicated that over-pressurized piping blew a safety valve, allowing ethylene gas to escape. Workers in the area were doing welding and pipefitting at the time.
21 Workers Injured, including 2 Who Were Badly Burned
Kuraray America is headquartered in Houston and is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Kuraray Co. LTD
The company’s Pasadena chemical plant is the largest producer of ethylene vinyl-alcohol in the world. The facility is currently undergoing an expansion that is expected to increase its annual capacity from 47,000 tons to 58,000 tons by the end of the year.
266 employees and contractors were onsite when Saturday’s explosion occurred, including over 20 who were injured in the incident.
Two workers were airlifted to an area hospital with severe burns, while 19 others were transferred via ambulance.
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