OSHA fines Union Carbide $2.8 million

Abstract

Pending appeal, Union Carbide has been fined $2.8 million by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration for willful violations related to the explosion and fire that destroyed part of its ethylene oxide plant Seadrift, Tex., last March. The accident, which dealt a blow to Carbide's vigorous post-Bhopal efforts for an accident-free record its plants around the world, killed one person and injured 32. It also knocked out much of the company's ethylene oxide capacity, resulting a drop of about $50 million earnings this year. OSHA Administrator Gerard F. Scannell says Carbide operated the plant in a manner which created the potential for catastrophic explosion. Not only was there an explosion of the ethylene oxide reactor, but the blast also sent flying metal shrapnel that punctured methane lines nearby. OSHA's investigation, says Scannell, showed that several exits from the area were locked, and some employees had to climb over a fence to ...