DUPONT: 23,000
POUNDS OF TOXIC GAS ESCAPED FROM THE LA PORTE, TEXAS PLANT THAT KILLED 4 WORKERS ON 11-15-14
About 23,000 pounds of a flammable, acidic, toxic chemical
escaped in the building where four DuPont workers recently died at a pesticide
plant in La Porte, the company reported Friday. We reported on the deadly incident here:
4 WORKERS INHALE TOXIC
CONCENTRATIONS OF METHYL MERCAPTAN AND DIE AT DUPONT'S LA PORTE TEXAS CHEMICAL
PLANT – UPDATE
That amount of gas could quickly displace the air in an
enclosed space, leading to asphyxiation, which medical examiners identified as
the cause of the workers' deaths. Although the company has not disclosed how
quickly the liquid material escaped and vaporized, it's enough that, if it
happened at once, it could fill two Olympic-sized swimming pools.
"The displacement of oxygen would be very severe and very
quick," said a former DuPont engineer familiar with the plant and who
spoke on the condition of anonymity, adding "within the time it takes you
to take a couple of breaths ... that's how quick it is, and you have no idea
what's happening to you. Just all of the sudden you're unconscious."
The company was required to submit the report to the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality. Although DuPont disclosed the amount of
gas in a three-paragraph news release, it declined to release the full report.
Commission offices were closed Friday.
The Nov. 15 release of methyl mercaptan, a foul-smelling gas
that, besides its use in pesticide production, is sometimes used to odorize
natural gas, is under investigation by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.
While details of the accident are still emerging, a Chronicle
investigation found the pesticide production facility had been plagued with
recurring maintenance problems and that workers lacked quick access to
breathing equipment that would have given them a better chance at survival.
Those killed included Crystle Rae Wise, 53, the first to alert others of a leak; Wade Baker, 60, a longtime supervisor; and brothers Gilbert
and Robert Tisnado, 48 and 39, respectively. Family members and
their attorneys said some of the workers who died were trying to help the
others escape. They and the company have indicated a faulty valve may have been
involved in the release. The gas escaped from pipes and vessels inside the
pesticide unit, DuPont spokesman Aaron Woods said.
That methyl mercaptan leaked and killed workers was a tragic
irony in a plant that was upgraded years ago to curb the hazards of what's
considered a much deadlier chemical: methyl isocyanate, or MIC. It's the
chemical responsible for initially killing more than 2,200 people after
escaping an Indian pesticide plant in 1984, causing lingering injuries and deaths
for thousands more in the world's worst industrial disaster.
Even tiny concentrations of the chemical can be deadly. DuPont engineers won an industry award for
upgrades that allowed the company to produce and consume small batches of MIC,
eliminating the need to store and transport it. Methyl mercaptan, on the other
hand, had always been viewed as a "pussycat chemical" by comparison,
the former engineer said.
The La Porte plant routinely contained tens of thousands of
pounds of the mercaptan, according to government documents. Outdoors, it poses
the least threat. County officials monitoring air around La Porte after the
release detected none of the gas, although residents could smell it because the
human nose detects it at levels so small instruments cannot. Woods said the gas
that built up inside the pesticide building dissipated over time as it escaped
through openings in the structure. Once released to air, it rapidly degrades,
he said.