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EPA/OSHA ISSUE ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION REPORT
Release Date: 04/29/99
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 1999
EPA/OSHA ISSUE ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION REPORT
EPA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released a report today on an investigation of a massive explosion and fire on May 8, 1997 that occurred at the Bartlo Packaging South Inc. (BPS) facility in West Helena, Ark. The accident at the agricultural chemical packaging facility killed three firefighters, injured 17 other firefighters, caused the evacuation of hundreds of people and closed traffic on major roads and the Mississippi River for 12 hours. The fire took two weeks to extinguish. The Joint Chemical Accident Investigation Team determined that the most likely cause of the explosion was the decomposition of a bulk sack of the pesticide Azinphos Methyl (AZM) 50W while in contact with a hot compressor discharge pipe. The investigation team did not rule out the possibility that the pesticide was already decomposing before arriving at the BPS facility. Root causes and contributing factors leading to the accident included the lack of adequate information regarding AZM’s potential hazards in the AZM 50W Material Safety Data Sheet and the BPS failure to recognize the hazards of a hot surface in a hazardous chemical storage area. The report identifies actions that should be taken by facilities that store, use, handle, manufacture or move hazardous materials to prevent future accidents. Later this spring, EPA will release a Chemical Safety Alert directly related to this accident and the limitations in MSDSs in Accident Response. The report will be available soon at: https://www.epa.gov/ceppo or by calling the RCRA/Superfund Hotline at 1-800-424-9346 or 703-412-9810.
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