Ethanol Plant Incidents
This web page was last modified May 21, 2008 at 3:55 PM.
This web page was last modified May 21, 2008 at 3:55 PM.
The best-laid plans o' mice an' men Gang aft a-gley, An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain For promised joy.
Robert Burns (1759-1796)
2008 Emergency Response Guide: A Guidebook For First Responders During The Initial Phase Of A Dangerous Goods/Hazardous Materials Transportation Incident
This is the handbook for first responders. It’s an aid in identifying and responding to hazardous situations in the event of transportation related spills and so on. Ever wonder what’s in that tanker trundling through your town? Look it up here.
“There was suddenly a whistling sound and heavy black smoke from the auger area and the mail (sic) silo walk-in door,” Briggs said. “The top of the silo began to crease inward at the silo cap.”
A tanker rig overturned and burst into flames yesterday evening on a curving interstate ramp over Baltimore’s South Hanover Street, killing the driver and sending a burning stream of its load of ethanol into the street below, igniting a row of parked vehicles, authorities said.
Television news coverage of crash.
October 22nd, 2006 – Massive rail cleanup in New Brighton: Investigation begins into derailment of 23 Norfolk Southern tankers carrying ethanol by Dennis B. Roddy – Pittsburg Post–Gazette
Emergency crews in New Brighton last night began the delicate task of off-loading nearly 100,000 gallons of explosive ethanol from overturned rail cars, while several other derailed tankers blazed nearby.
Strictly speaking, this doesn't qualify as an incident. It is an alarming report about the growing list of environmental violations committed by players in the rapidly expanding ethanol industry in Iowa.
September 11th, 2005 – Ethanol plants among Iowa’s polluters – from The Des Moines Register: The issue — Iowa's 17 ethanol plants — which produce a corn–based fuel trumpeted as less–polluting than regular gasoline — have contaminated the state’s rivers and air. At times, developers built plants without the required state permits designed to limit pollution. State officials learned about some of the new plants by reading newspapers.
Some items in this list are compiled from the incident logs at Industrial Fire World Magazine's web site and from AcuTech's AcuSafe® web site.
Police evacuated homes at Indiana 32 and County Road 625E Wednesday after a tanker hauling ethanol overturned, spilling part of its load. Indiana 32 was blocked to all traffic and people were out of their homes several hours as emergency workers, fearing the flammable fuel would spark, raced to stabilize it. They struggled to remain cool wearing turnout gear in near 90–degree temperatures with high humidity.More, from the Indianapolis Star,
Barton estimated that about 300 to 400 gallons were released before the leak was stopped. The stretch of Indiana 32 about 40 miles northwest of Indianapolis reopened this morning. The remaining fuel was transferred to another tanker.
…Hundreds of workers ran for their lives after the 10.10am blast, which rocked areas up to 25km away and sparked a huge fire that sent flames and black smoke shooting 100m into the sky. The roof was blown off the ethanol tank and cars parked 60m away across the road had their tail lights melted…Kembla fire photo one -- Kembla fire photo two -- Kembla fire photo three
At 3:35 p.m. fire fighters learned that the foam they were using wasn't working and they needed to cap a plug to shut off the flow of alcohol. They were also monitoring anhydrous ammonia tanks across the street. At about 4:01 p.m. they reported the fire was still going and by 4:20 p.m. the Rushville Fire Department was on the scene for backup. Alcohol was still leaking and flames could be seen on the back side of the building. By 4:31 p.m. firefighters had entered the middle section and tried to shut off a valve line…More, from the AcuSafe archive:
Tennessee Distillery Explodes, Injures 6 – A major explosion occurred at an alcohol distillery, injuring six workers and halting vehicle and train traffic in the heart of Atchison. Company officials shut down all of the operations after the explosion, which sparked a fire that burned for more than six hours. One of the biggest concerns was averting a secondary explosion from the large amount of alcohol in the plant. Firefighters had to douse 10m(eter) flames for more than six hours because equipment that supplies alcohol could not be completely shut off. It was not clear what the contractors were doing in the plant, but the Atchison Fire Department said outside crews may have been at the plant to cut up some old tanks. The company manufactures wheat proteins and starches, in addition to producing beverage alcohol, industrial alcohol and ethanol.
1999 and onward – Heartland Grain Fuels operates plants in both Aberdeen, SD and Huron, SD. Sometime in 1999, after being cited many times for wastewater violations, the Aberdeen plant dumped or spilled ethanol and ethanol by–products into Moccasin Creek near Aberdeen. The Huron plant has had problems of its own, as noted elsewhere on this page.
From the EPA's web site January 18, 2002 – South Dakota Facility Pleads to Clean Water Act Violation – Heartland Grain Fuels of Aberdeen, SD, has agreed to plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act by illegally discharging ethanol into Moccasin Creek (in 1999). The ethanol reached the Aberdeen wastewater treatment facility and killed bacteria needed to properly digest raw sewage. The ability of the plant to adequately treat sewage was impaired for approximately two weeks. If the U.S. District Court in Aberdeen approves the plea agreement, Heartland will pay up to $40,000 in fines and provide an additional $158,143 to the city of Aberdeen to upgrade the ability of its sewage treatment facility to control and monitor pollutant discharges. The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division and is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Sioux Falls.
Perhaps to show there were no hard feelings, a USDA annual report from 2004 announced Heartland Grain Fuels, LP received a USDA Rural Development value-added agricultural product market development grant in the amount of $150,000 to assist with making their plant more profitable and efficient.
So it goes…