A digest of the most pressing climate-related news, released every Tuesday and Friday. Police and fire dispatchers said all local utility companies had been contacted, but none had reported any issues. The noise was also heard and felt in the nearby City of Socorro, according to acity representative. Chambers and his team went over the plan and reviewed the permits, including one that cleared the crew to use a cutting torch to detach a catwalk that connected Tank #18, the damaged tank, to Tank #17, an asphalt tank six feet away, according to court documents. The company declined to respond to detailed questions sent by Inside Climate News, citing its ongoing lawsuit with Chambers, said Alisa Rhyno, a spokeswoman for the company. 'Explosion' at Baytown, Texas ExxonMobil oil refinery leaves several injured U.S. news Several people injured after fire at ExxonMobil oil refinery in Texas At least three ABC-7 reported that police and fire officials could not explain the TOWN OF MAPLE GROVE, Wis. (AP) Four people remain hospitalized in Wisconsin burn centers with injuries from a bonfire explosion last week during a party in the Town of Maple Grove, authorities said Thursday. It is a colorless gas with a gasoline-like odor, used to produce synthetic rubber products like tires, plastics and other chemicals. At least 37 people were injured and treated for non-life-threatening injuries, I could see the flames from the backyard," Branick said. 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We had two tanks right next to each other that we were dealing with: one with fire, one with rescue, Slovak said. Two foreign residents were injured when they jumped out of windows to escape, said Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government's spokesman. Dallas Fire-Rescue responded to a 10:21 a.m. call of a natural gas odor at 5726 Highland Hills Road in South Dallas, officials there said Wednesday. A gas explosion in an apartment building Saturday killed at least nine people, including four children, on the island of Sakhalin in far eastern Russia, according local authorities. he/him. Thanks for contacting us. If you have the contamination of higher flash point liquids with lower flash point liquids or the deliberate use of additives and youre not aware of what its doing to the tank vapor space, that could potentially be a hazardous situation, Zalosh said. It is now common for additives to comprise up to 20 percent of stored asphalt or No. Flames shot out of the top of the damaged tank, and firefighters let the blaze burn out. Get a daily email of our original, groundbreaking stories written by our national network of award-winning reporters. In many cases, there was hot work or torch heating on or near the tanks, wrote the author, Robert Zalosh. But a 1997 study found that in several cases, fires and explosions had happened in materials like asphalt and No. Hot workthe use of tools for cutting, grinding and welding that can create sparksis common at industrial plants, and asphalt plants are no exception. PLANO, Texas The explosion that destroyed a house in suburban Dallas and heavily damaged the two next door, injuring six people, may not have been an accident, This article was produced in collaboration with Berkeley Journalisms Investigative Reporting Program. A fire at an ExxonMobil oil refinery in Texas left several people injured early Thursday after what officials and local residents suggested may have been an explosion. In some cases workers were injured or killed, and some explosions ignited fires in other, nearby tanks, causing whole neighborhoods to be evacuated. Officials say firefighters were called to Trinity Hospital shortly "It was like a weird feeling, like a wave and then there was a rumble in my apartment and then the next thing I know, all my pictures in my living room are on the floor. Whereas some highly volatile materials can have low flashpoints, like gasoline at -40F or ethyl alcohol at 55F, asphalts can be listed as high as 450 or 500F. He said that so far, there appeared to be no adverse impact due to the blaze. She joined InsideClimate in the fall of 2013, after helping produce documentaries and interactives for the PBS show Frontline since 2010 with 2over10 Media. Davis said industrial hygiene staff were monitoring the air quality at the site and fence line following Thursday's fire. Chambers was thrown across the catwalk and about 30 feet down into Tank #18, which held a few feet of cold, hardened asphalt, topped by about eight inches of stagnant water. SAN ANTONIO (AP) Authorities on Sunday continued investigating the cause of an explosion that killed three people at a San Antonio construction company. WebIf you or loved one has been injured in a serious accident in a chemical plant refinery accidents, call our San Antonio Plant & Refinery accidents lawyers today. GUTHRIE, Ky. (AP) One worker was killed and four others were injured in an explosion at an industrial facility in western Kentucky, officials said. IE 11 is not supported. Paul Bommer, a petroleum engineer and senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, said he once was called as an expert witness in a case in which a tank containing carbon blacka substance similar to asphalt and No. An unexpectedly high concentration of vapors emitted by the heavy oils is likely to play a role in both types of explosions, these experts say. The explosion happened just before 8 p.m. when workers for the utility company CenterPoint Energy were trying to shut down a gas line outside a home in the town of Spring, KXAN reported, citing the Harris County Fire Marshals Office. Two months before Tank #17 exploded, on Feb. 2, 2018, there had been an explosion in the other tank, Tank #18. The cause of the fire was found to be a leaking natural gas line. The explosion, which was captured on video, launched wooden boards, window glass, insulation and other debris at least 100 feet into the air in Evansville, the Evansville Courier & Press reported. Firefighters responded to Neptune Welding on Virginia Beach Boulevard just after 11 a.m., news outlets reported. Whats more, even a small amount of a lower flash point additive could affect the point of ignition of the substance its added to. Her work has been honored by the Society of Professional Journalists and the Society of Environmental Journalists, and she was named a finalist for the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists in 2010 and again in 2015. A helicopter ambulance was waiting to take him to a hospital in Dallas, but with his clothes covered in asphalt, they decided against it out of fear that the fumes from Chambers clothes and body would overtake the pilot, Slovak said. The first blast, which blew out the windows At a news conference today, Manley said the latest bombing occurred when the two victims either stepped on or kicked a tripwire as they were walking on a sidewalk in the Travis Country neighborhood of Austin. In states that do require that emissions be reported, companies estimate them, typically using a formula developed by the petroleum industry that is often wrong and leads to underestimates of vapor pressure and the levels of air pollution the tanks are emitting. HARRIS COUNTY, Texas An explosion at an ExxonMobil plant in Texas injured four people early Thursday, according to the Harris County Sheriffs Office. Chambers climbed to the catwalk and got ready to separate it from the tops of the tanks. These kinds of explosions in asphalt tanks have been documented at least since the 1980s. The explosion happened Wednesday while a truck was pumping waste chemicals from the Quick Turn Anodizing facility in Guthrie, Todd County Emergency Management Director Daniel Smith told news outlets. Another personposted, "Anyone else felt a big boom or house shaking just now? this year: 5.4 in Mentone , Texas Witnesses in the area described hearing a noise that sounded like a thunderstorm and say they saw a big fireball in the area of the plant. The county has previously sued ExxonMobil, accusing the company of violating the federal Clean Air Act. VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) Two people were killed Monday when a storage tank exploded at a Virginia welding business, a fire official said. 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Rosselot added, The potential for higher vapor concentrations needs to be recognized, so that care is taken to prevent the vapors in these tanks and the vapors being emitted from these tanks from coming into contact with a source of ignition.. Four injured in refinery fire at Baytown, Texas. WebIncident at Freeport oil and gas company under control, officials say Explosion rocks neighborhood near Philadelphia, 4 confirmed dead Kansas fire caught on video after Prior to attending Berkeley, Julia served as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard. Download the NBC News app for breaking news, "They have got a lot of people working on it," White said Tuesday evening. Carl Bradley Johansson, 64, of Newport Beach also was sentenced for tax evasion and for using fraud to receive more than $954,000 in COVID-19 relief money, according to the U.S. MORGANTOWN, Pa. (AP) A furnace explosion damaged the roof of a titanium plant in southeastern Pennsylvania on Thanksgiving Day, but no one was injured, authorities said. Inside Climate News made repeated attempts to speak with Chambers, but messages left on his phone and email and with his family and his attorney were not returned. ", I was just laying in bed and then all of a sudden I felt. MINOT, N.D. (AP) A small explosion and fire disrupted care on the third floor of a Minot hospital. As someone who lives close to the refinery, she said, its very concerning. (AP) Twelve people were injured, two of them critically, in an explosion and fire at a Maryland apartment building Wednesday and the residents of one unit have not been accounted for, a fire official said. A meteor fell in Mission, Texas today around 5-5:30 pm, making a loud bang, shaking house in a 10 mile radius. When vapors above a certain concentration come into contact with an ignition source, Rosselot said, thats when explosions can happen. Most of the explosions of heated storage tanks have taken place at asphalt plants, but in cities and towns across the country the tanks are often knit into neighborhoods, near schools, daycares and retirement homes. There is no tolerance level for explosive concentrations of vapors in tanks that are vented to the atmosphereit is unacceptable for these vapors to be near their explosive limit, said Rosselot. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Two people are dead after a chemical leak and explosion Tuesday evening at plant in La Porte, Texas, company officials said. All Rights Reserved. Long-term exposure has been associated with cardiovascular disease and cancer, and can damage the nervous system. 6 fuel, because their emissions were thought to be negligible, are vented, allowing oxygen in and vapors out. Chambers and his wife are suing U.S. Polyco and the plant safety manager for negligence that resulted in his injuries. An earlier version of this article incorrectly described how gasoline vapors are controlled in storage tanks. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. But storage tanks for asphalt and No. But over the last 30 years, companies have increasingly used additives to enhance the products, changing their makeup. "There is no risk to the surrounding community. The explosion happened just before 8 p.m. when workers HARRIS COUNTY, Texas An explosion at an ExxonMobil plant in Texas injured four people early Thursday, according to the Harris County Sheriffs Office.