Tanner Industries Inc., Southampton, Penn., considers all outstanding issues with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) including a $91,000 fine resulting from the anhydrous ammonia release last year that killed one person (GM July 20, 2009), to have been resolved; however, it is still awaiting results from the investigation of the incident by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
“We helped in establishing the community advisory board made up of local residents and community leaders and are working with them and other agencies,” Tanner Director of Quality and Regulatory Affairs David Binder told Green Markets. “We installed an additional local sensor and alarm system at the facility and also have worked with the county emergency management and response personnel.”
DHEC’s fine stems from a total of eight federal and state air and chemical safety violations at the Swansea plant that were outlined in an enforcement order signed recently by both the agency and Tanner officials.
According to South Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) spokesman Adam Myrick, there was really only one substantive requirement for Tanner in the order, and that was to install an alarm system, which was done before the order was signed. “It’s important to note that the alarm system is not required by regulation,” Myrick explained. “It was requested by residents who live near the facility. Tanner agreed to voluntarily install this equipment and we included it in the order to ensure it was completed. All of the other corrective measures were completed early in the process and resolved well before the order was finalized.”
He added that the department now considers that the corrective actions taken by Tanner allow the facility to operate within their regulatory requirements and all of the deficiencies have been resolved, and the civil penalty, which goes directly to the state’s general fund, has been paid.
The July 15, 2009, release of 7,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia occurred when a carrier was transferring product to the Tanner facility at Swansea.
“They used an improper transfer hose which failed during their transfer to us,” Binder stated. “NTSB is the lead investigating agency on the whole investigation.”
The hose failure and other events involved in the release are still under investigation by NTSB, public affairs officer Peter Knudson reported. Knudson said the agency expects a final report to be issued in the first half of 2011. DHEC’s fine against Tanner large by agency standards is at least the second penalty nationally against the company over chemical safety preparedness in the past two months. In October, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fined a Tanner plant in Rhode Island $149,080 for violating federal regulations intended to prevent chemical accidents.