Yet another safety mess. According to a variety of media, the Veolia Environmental waste solvent recovery plant in West Carrollton, OH suffered an explosion at about midnight local time this morning, when six employees working at the site were transferring solvents between tanks when a vapor leak ignited and exploded. The explosion was in the tank farm area of the plant site, and was large enough to knock several small buildings that were close by on the site off their foundations. The fire rapidly spread to the storage tanks, and by the time first responders arrived several of the tanks were already on fire. The plant is a spent solvent recovery and reprocessing plant.[img_assist|nid=2863|title=Explosion at Veolia Environmental in West Carrollton, OH|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=412|height=275]
At least two workers were injured, both seriously.
An investigation into the root causes of the incident is underway, as is the environmental remediation from escaping fumes, chemical, and fire retardant.
What we have here would be an epic fail, except that it is not unexpected. We cannot make all hazards go away, but a simple hazard like this ought to have a simple solution that doesn't involve hurting people and blowing up a plant.
