Baytown, Tex.-State and federal investigators expect to take several weeks investigating an explosion of a toluene diisocyanate (TDI) tank undergoing maintenance Sept. 26 at the Bayer Material Sciences plant here that injured 22 Bayer and contractor employees and ruptured and caused a release from an ammonia tank. According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), 21 of the injured were treated and released at a hospital, while one was admitted with second degree burns on his back. TCEQ said an unknown quantity of ammonia was released into the atmosphere as the ruptured tank continued to leak a small amount throughout the day. Bayer suppressed the ammonia with water that was captured within the facility’s process storm sewer system and flowed into a permitted waste water treatment plant. Later in the afternoon Bayer placed a vacuum scrubber over the valve that was leaking. The company’s health and safety staff used Draeger monitoring equipment to track the ammonia levels downwind of the incident area, with the highest recording of 5 parts per million approximately a half mile from the scene, which is still within the Bayer fenced area.
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