Philadelphia, PA - The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board will conduct a news conference on Oct. 16 to update the public on the investigation into the June 21 explosion and fire at the PES refinery. "The CSB will release a factual update as well as a new animation of the June 2019 fire and explosion at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) refinery in Philadelphia, PA," a media advisory issued by CSB states. The conference, which begins at 10 a.m. EDT, will be held at the Philadelphia Airport Marriott, One Arrivals Road, Terminal B in Meeting Room 5. Parking is available in Garage C, Level 2. CSB interim executive Dr. Krsiten Kulinowski and supervisory investigator Lauren Grim will conduct the conference. Firefighters brought the bulk of the refinery fire under control within 12 hours of the first explosion, However, due to large amounts of the toxic chemical hydrofluoric acid on site,...

Greenville, MO   – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Kerry Inc. for failing to provide fall protection to employees working in the company’s facility in Greenville, Missouri. The food flavoring company faces $223,525 in penalties for one willful and eight serious safety violations. An employee fatally fell while trying to extinguish a fire at the plant. After an April 2019 inspection, OSHA determined that the company failed to designate, train and educate a fire brigade properly on how to respond to such emergencies; evaluate hazards to determine the need for personal protective equipment; provide approved self-contained breathing apparatus; complete required safety data sheets; and repair damaged parts. OSHA has placed the company in the Severe Violator Enforcement Program. "This preventable tragedy should remind all employers of their obligation to evaluate their training programs and safety procedures continually, and to provide refresher training to ensure that...

Cardiff, Wales - Celsa Manufacturing (UK) Ltd have been fined after an explosion killed two workers and seriously injured another at the Celsa Steelworks site in Cardiff. A Health and Safety Executive investigation found the explosion would have come without warning to employees Peter O’Brien and Mark Sim, who died at the company’s Rod and Bar Mill. Darren Wood, another employee, also suffered serious injuries. Cardiff Crown Court heard that on 18 November 2015, electrical engineer Peter, 51, was working with mechanical engineer Mark, 41 in the basement of the site. They were working on an accumulator vessel when it exploded. A HSE investigation found that a flammable atmosphere developed within the accumulator as hydraulic lubrication oil was being drained from it. The flammable atmosphere was ignited by an electric heater within the accumulator. The investigation found that the company failed to assess the risks to which its employees were exposed...

Billings, MT - The former project manager of an oil processing plant that exploded in Wibaux in 2012, injuring three employees and extensively damaging the facility, was sentenced Thursday (Oct. 3) to two years of probation and fined $5,000, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said. Mark Hurst, 44, of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, pleaded guilty on Feb. 27 to Clean Air Act-negligent endangerment. On Sept. 27, a jury in Billings convicted co-defendant Peter Margiotta, 62, of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, of all three counts related to the plant explosion. The jury found Margiotta guilty of conspiracy, Clean Air Act-general duty and Clean Air Act-knowing endangerment. Margiotta was president and director of Custom Carbon Processing, Inc., a Wyoming company that constructed the Michels Disposal Well and Oil Processing facility in Wibaux in 2012. Hurst testified against Margiotta at trial.  “As project manager, the defendant was aware of the danger to the employees and the public...

TORRANCE, CA, SEPTEMBER 30, 2019 – Bobit Business Media, a leading B2B media provider, announced today the launch of its new brand, iFIRE International. The “i” represents its mission to inform, instruct, influence, and inspire, which will be achieved through conferences and expositions, hands-on training, mobile apps, websites and digital magazines, newsletters, webinars, and after-action reporting, to name a few. To help launch iFIRE International, Bobit is pleased to announce the brand’s first acquisition, Industrial Fire World (Bryan, Texas), which has more than 20,000 readers in the industrial fire and emergency response industries. Founded in 1985 by David White, Industrial Fire World (IFW) is the leading resource for real-time safety updates and industry expertise while connecting industrial fire and emergency response managers with products and services used to support them in fire protection and emergency response incidents. “IFW connects with an established segment of the fire service that has long been...

A buyer and seller of petroleum products wants Intercontinental Terminal Co. to compensate it for $7.7 million in loses the company says it suffered after a massive fire at ITC's Deer Park, TX, terminal in March 2019. For more information, CLICK HERE.

Billings, MT – After a five day trial, a jury Friday (Sept. 27) convicted the former president and director of Custom Carbon Processing, Inc. of multiple violations of the federal Clean Air Act after a 2012 explosion at the company’s oil processing plant in Wibaux injured three employees and caused extensive damage to the plant, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said. The jury found Peter Margiotta, 62, of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, guilty of all three counts in an indictment, including conspiracy, Clean Air Act—general duty and Clean Air Act-knowing endangerment. Margiotta faces a maximum 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine for an individual, a $1 million fine for an organization and three years of supervised release on the knowing endangerment crime. The jury trial began on Sept. 23. U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters did not immediately set a sentencing date and continued Margiotta’s release. “Cutting corners in the construction and...

Flooding related to one of the wettest tropical cyclones in U.S. history has forced the postponement of a one-day symposium featuring well known industrial firefighter Dwight Williams that was originally scheduled for Sept. 24. “Tank Fires, Lesson Learned and Some Forgotten …” combining classroom lectures at the MCM Eleganté Hotel with fire field exercises held at the Industrial Rescue Fire Training Field has been rescheduled for Oct. 24, said IRFT owner David Owens. “There is no water on the fire field so far,” Owens said. “Unfortunately the MCM Eleganté has flooded.” The National Weather Service said preliminary estimates suggested that Jefferson County was deluged with more than 40 inches (102 centimeters) of rain in a span of just 72 hours, which would make it the seventh-wettest tropical cyclone to hit the continental U.S. Owens said he has been overwhelmed with telephone calls concerned about potential flooding at the fire field. After...

A ruptured filtration filter is the focus of a U.S. Chemical Safety Board investigation into an explosion and fire at a Texas chemical plant in April that killed one person and injured 30 others, an update issued this week states. On April 2, 2019, the operational staff at the KMCO facility in Crosby, TX, was engaged in making a batch of sulfurized isobutylene. Sometime later an operator walking by the sulfurized isobutylene batch reactor heard a loud “pop” followed by a loud whooshing noise similar to “an air hose coming off.” Investigating further the operator described a white cloud of vapor hovering near the ground with three or four feet of wavy, hazy vapor above it. An immediate evacuation order was issued via the plant radio system. Approximately four minutes later the isobutylene vapor cloud exploded. After the blast, with a hole roughly three inches by 5.5 inches was found in...

Philadelphia, PA - Four employees of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in South Philadelphia were honored Sunday for their efforts in the wake of the massive explosion and fire that rocked the facility back in June. TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE, CLICK HERE

A one-day symposium featuring well known industrial firefighter Dwight Williams addressing important techniques and strategies for dealing with large volume flammable liquid fires will be held Sept. 24, 2019 in Beaumont, TX. “Tank Fires, Lesson Learned and Some Forgotten …” will combine classroom lectures conducted at the MCM Eleganté Hotel with fire field exercises held at the Industrial Rescue Fire Training Field. “We have a whole generation of responders who have never seen a major fire,” Williams said. “This is an opportunity to talk about major fires, what to expect and how to prepare. ”Williams, the founder of Williams Fire & Hazard Control, came out of retirement in March to take a major role in the joint effort to extinguish the stubborn 64-hour blaze at Intercontinental Terminals Co. in Deer Park, TX. Flames spread through petrochemical products in and around 15 storage tanks, unleashing a plume of black smoke tracked by...

Force majeure clauses are intended to protect parties to a legal contract from losses caused by disruptive events beyond their control. But supply-chain partners might be surprised to learn what such language doesn’t cover. TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE, CLICK HERE

Refiner Philadelphia Energy Solutions will begin dismissing some of its 640 union workers on Thursday, more than a week before its stated Aug. 25 termination date, two sources familiar with the plan said. TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE CLICK HERE

The fire that partly destroyed the Tyson Foods Finney County beef plant in Holcomb, Kan., (near Garden City) on Friday, August 10, took cattle futures limit down Monday morning as traders tried to assess what lost fed cattle slaughter capacity means to markets. TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE, CLICK HERE

Beaver County, PA - President Donald Trump will visit the Shell cracker plant in Beaver County on Tuesday, Aug. 13, the White House said Thursday. TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE, CLICK HERE

Taranto (Italy) (AFP) - Rock climbers scale a giant canopy in Taranto to build the world's biggest iron-ore park cover as steel giant ArcelorMittal strives to clean up and turn around Italy's most polluting pla nt. To read entire article, CLICK HERE

Long time Williams Fire & Hazard Control executive Chauncey Naylor has submitted his resignation effective Sept. 2. The announcement was posted Tuesday to the Williams Fire & Hazard Control's Linkedin page.  Extending best wishes to Chauncey Naylor, who is retiring from Johnson Controls on September 2nd. Chauncey has been an integral member of the WILLIAMS FIRE & HAZARD CONTROL business, as the Director of the Emergency Response Operations & Training team, and an esteemed member of the WILLIAMS FIRE & HAZARD CONTROL Emergency Response team. Both groups have benefitted from his extensive field experience and vast industry knowledge, and are eager and well-prepared to propel the WILLIAMS FIRE & HAZARD CONTROL brand forward! We would like to thank Chauncey for his 23 years of service and congratulate him on his well-deserved retirement! To reach Williams Fire & Hazard Control's Linkedin page, CLICK HERE

Philadelphia, PA - Workers at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in South Philadelphia are planning to start neutralizing tens of thousands of barrels of a highly toxic chemical beginning Monday (Aug. 5). The refinery is shutting down after an explosion and fire destroyed part of the plant. The company has entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy. TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE, CLICK HERE

Houston, TX - Houston is no stranger to impactful industrial fires, many that have claimed dozens and dozens of lives over the years. TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE, CLICK HERE

CLINTON, IA - Two businesses are contesting citations issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration following a fire and explosion that killed a Clinton firefighter in January. TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE, CLICK HERE