The lead investigation agency on an anhydrous ammonia release during an unloading operation July 15 at a chemical terminal (GM July 20, p. 12) that killed one person and sent at least seven others to the hospital in Swansea, S.C., says it will be at least 12 months before the cause can be established.
A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, one of several federal, state, and local entities looking into the accident, which occurred in the morning at the Tanner Industries Inc. plant at Swansea, said investigators will be focusing on, among other things, a damaged hose that released the ammonia during a transfer operation between the truck belonging to another owner and the facility. “We’ll be doing analyses of it, putting it under a microscope to determine how it failed,” NTSB’s Peter Knudson told Green Markets. “We also interviewed two drivers of the tank truck and several employees of the facility itself and looked at training records (along with) specifications of the hose.” Knudson said these investigations typically take 12 to 18 months to produce accurate results. He added, “Certainly the hose ruptured. We do know that. (But) we’re going to want to understand the condition of the hose, how old it was, those kinds of things.” State environmental officials have said that a fist-sized hole was discovered in the hose.
Tanner Industries said in a brief statement that the facility is back to normal operations. “The National Transportation Safety Board has informed us that they have the lead in reviewing the incident and we are fully cooperating and working with NTSB and other federal, state and local agencies,” stated David Binder, director of quality, safety and regulatory affairs. Binder declined to answer any questions.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board also sent a team to the site, where a woman caught in her stalled car was killed when she attempted to escape the ammonia cloud. Other state and local authorities also were conducting separate investigations.
The sheriff’s office said the body of the 38-year-old victim was found while a search was being conducted for injured persons and animals in the area near the Tanner plant. Detectives said the woman, identified as a local resident, apparently attempted to turn her car around and head out of the white, dense plume when the engine stalled. She is believed to have parked the car on the side of the road, got out to leave on her own, and quickly suffered ammonia poisoning.
Lexington County Public Safety Director Bruce Rucker said Lexington County Emergency Medical Services personnel treated 15 individuals in all, seven of whom were transported by ambulance to Lexington Medical Center with respiratory problems that did not appear to be life-threatening. Rucker said five of the seven were transported from the chemical plant and two from a home near the chemical plant. Public safety personnel went door-to-door to about 45 homes in the one-square-mile area near the chemical plant to ensure that no additional persons and no animals were injured as a result of the ammonia leak.
An aerial search showed that a large plume of ammonia traveled from the chemical plant across a highway to a largely wooded area where, before dissipating, it caused vegetation and leaves on trees to turn black in a large swath of the one-square-mile area that was searched.
Tanner Industries, headquartered in Southhampton, Penn., distributes anhydrous ammonia and ammonium hydroxide by tank truck, railcar, drum, and cylinder to U.S. customers from approximately 20 facilities. It also provides custom blending, contract packaging, and safety training services. Tanner safety courses are designed to teach industry, first responders, and HazMat units about ammonia, its properties, and how to respond to an incident.
NTSB identified the tanker truck as being owned by a company called Werner in Tampa, Fla. However, the company could not be reached for comment. Another Werner, Werner Enterprises in Omaha, said it was not their truck and that they do not haul anhydrous ammonia.