Federal investigators flag safety concerns during ongoing U.S. Steel Clairton investigation
In addition to the batteries impacted by the explosion, U.S. Steel has four others that are operating and have buildings with workers near them.
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): U.S. Steel did not follow industry standards in rebuilding facilities that were damaged by the fatal August explosion in Clairton, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board said Tuesday.
Although the federal agency is still investigating the blast at Clairton Coke Works that killed two workers and seriously injured five others, it “already has identified potentially unmitigated hazards for workers” and issued two recommendations for U.S. Steel as it rebuilds and relocates its damaged facilities.
They are calling for U.S. Steel to analyze all of its buildings in Clairton to make sure workers are properly protected.
“Even though our investigation into this terrible tragedy is ongoing, the CSB is issuing these initial recommendations to ensure that workers at the Clairton Coke Works facility are not put in harm’s way hereafter,” the board’s chairman Steve Owens said in a statement.
The agency wants U.S. Steel to perform a comprehensive facility siting evaluation, which would inform where the company performs certain processes, how they would be impacted by fire, explosion or toxic hazards and, in the case of existing buildings, how to mitigate the potential consequences of such disasters.
The investigators said they were concerned that such an evaluation wasn’t conducted as U.S. Steel has rebuilt the pipes that carried coke oven gas to batteries 13 and 14, “in almost the same location and layout as it was prior to the explosion.” They concluded that the piping area was “not capable of protecting occupants from explosion hazards.”
A new control room built to replace one damaged in the blast is a pre-fabricated, remote operations unit that was placed about 100 feet from the original setup, across the street from the rows of ovens that turn coal into coke, workers and investigators said.
Building the prefabricated unit on site allowed U.S. Steel to quickly restart battery 14, one of two that was damaged in August, limiting the facility’s output to other U.S. Steel facilities and companies. Battery 14 came back online in late October. Battery 13 is expected to restart early next year.
But it’s still not clear that the new location is safe, the chemical safety board said.
In addition to the batteries impacted by the explosion, U.S. Steel has four others that are operating and have buildings with workers near them.
U.S. Steel said in a statement that it continues to cooperate with the active investigation, and that it’s reviewing the recommendations.
Courtesy: www.post-gazette.com