Tampa-Authorities are still investigating a brief, sudden explosion early on May 26 that burned two workers in the sludge drying facility at the Port of Tampa wastewater processing plant. Plant Manager Phillip Clark told Green Markets that the momentary explosion occurred between 6 and 7 a.m. because of excess dust generated in the process, which may have been triggered when something “got out of whack” in the mixture of wet and dry sludge. He said that dust is an age-old problem with this type of operation. The two workers, who suffered first and second degree burns of the hands, arms, and neck, were treated and released at a local hospital. The plant produces pelletized fertilizer for marketing by Synagro. A similar explosion occurred March 13 at a plant operated by Synagro in Hagerstown, Md., leaving a gaping hole in the roof. There were no injuries at that time, and Clark said there was no connection between the two incidents. In other news, two unrelated fertilizer incidents occurred the same week – one May 25 at Cochranton, Penn., when a small amount of anhydrous ammonia was released while a worker was transferring from a 1,000-gallon tank to another storage container. According to press reports, the state police sealed off a stretch of Route 285 near the incident for a short time while the ammonia cloud dispersed. No one was evacuated. In the other mishap, on the same day, a tanker truck driver was seriously injured and 52,000 pounds of liquid nitrogen spilled in a collision with another truck on Indiana Route 3. The tanker veered into a ditch, overturned, and pinned the driver inside for a brief time, investigators told reporters. The tanker was transporting the fertilizer from Lima, Ohio, to Eli Lilly.
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